The Esquires 2016 BATTLE OF THE BANDS – THE GRAND FINAL.
Tequella Mockingbird, Unitra, Ashley Falls, Drinsipa.

Lev 2 Esquires Friday 29th July 2016.

After 8 heats and 2 semi finals tonight at Esquires is The Grand Final, always a prestigious event wherever they are and a good turnout to see who goes through.

TEQUELLA MOCKINGBIRD opened up with a set that didn’t phase the band opening the night. They seemed to have such a healthy crowd and crowd response and easily got them joining in. No posing or messing about TM just got on with it and gave a faultless solid performance. They have quite a technical sound with intricate guitar playing which doesn’t get in the way of a any visual performance demonstrating a flare for enthused energy, putting a lot of movement in to their on stage presence.
Large screens adorn each side of the stage with their band name on while in between stands their sporran and kilted bassist right up front along with their singer with his floppy hair and gorgeously soothing husky vocals.
The bands tonight were probably not told that they did not have to provide a cover and no marks were being awarded this time round on the cover. TM chose again to tribute Motorhead Ace Of Spades and a good rock out version they did! Overall a great solid set.

*Tequella Mockingbird came second on this Grand Final*

“Are You Alive!” screams UNITRA grimacing, gurning and other facial contortions through out their powerhouse performance on stage, more reliant on technical 80’s metal guitar twiddelry than vocals and amazing non the less with their anthemic songs and tuneful choruses.
Oh look the pirates are back! With tricorn hats aplenty and swords in the audience held aloft making a fun part to their set with their What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor cover song rolled out for a third time of the competition. Hugely metal and not a band for any indie fans out there, you certainly wont be seeing these Vikings of metal supporting The Scruff at The Pad!
We were alive Unitra and you played a full on, fun set.

Aaaaaaassssshhhhhlllllllleeeeyyyyyy Faaaaaaaaaaaals! – With plenty of smoke. For ASHLEY FALLS this is what Friday nights are all about. There were some exuberant moshers in the pit and I am guessing friends of the band more than live music lovers that would attend other gigs.
This was a well practiced tight and overall fun set. Impeccable beats of rhythmic drumming punctuating the songs throughout. I noticed their bassist and guitarist swapping sides throughout keeping the band dynamic fresh and less static on stage, they succeeded in getting a good mosh pit going with swords and battle axes of the previous band swapped with glow sticks for Ashley Falls and even LED glow boots moshing away up the front with their crowd dancing like drunken giraffes in the mosh pit.
I cant help thinking, the next step for Ashley Falls is to explore other towns and venues without their entourage and showcase their stuff to new audiences, hopefully collecting new fans and pleased audiences along the way that would hopefully follow the band and adding to their local burgeoning home base territory.
With their pop punk sounds and crowd rousing capacity its great to see the sheer enthusiasm and energy that flows through this band like a storm whenever they play live.

Like a perfect marriage of drums and guitar/vocals DRINSIPA all instantly enjoyable and sounding as though there are more people in the band than there actually are (my calculator added them all up to two). The vocals are so good and full of grunge aggression rougher than a grave robbers dog, crossing boundaries between Sabbath, Drenge and Black Stone Cherry.
after a while I kind of got the idea that all the songs were sounding the same, although slicker than someone who not only eats carrots to see in the dark also eats bananas to see round corners. They have an exciting sound of roughly trampled grunge and unstoppably entertaining, taking time to add a flash of visual flair with a lot of on stage movement and encouraging banter to the crowd as his catch phrase went – “Yea Boi”.

*Drinsipa came first winning this Grand Final of Battle Of The Bands*