Highlight of the Week

Battle of the Bands

Our first competitive rock competition for three years got underway shortly after 6pm on Thursday night at the highly anticipated Battle of the Bands competition.

First up were Dyfrig house. Their video showed how much can be done with simple filming in the music department with the aid of careful editing and some digital techniques. The result was a very professional performance worthy of MTV! Their live act continued in the moody, brooding vein, with strong performances and good focus. Performers were Neel B, Shivansh A, Tommy S, Ryan N (our youngest drummer) and, on the second number, Clara P. The songs chosen were KT Tunstall’s Suddenly I See and Two Door Cinema Club’s What You Know. This was a very good performance, but the other two houses were so strong that they were forced into third place. The good news for Dyfrig is that no performer was from Year 13, so they will be back next year hoping to win the crown.

Euddogwy were next. In spite of the loud musical accompaniment to their video, some of the audience found it hard to follow the lyrics because of the guffaws of laughter, particularly from Dr Rickard. The video was a spoof of the suffering teenage persona so beloved of 80s performers like Morrissey, and this was done with panache and verve. The two songs were wisely chosen - The Smiths’ Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and The Muse’s New Born. This allowed the group to display their fantastic vocal prowess, with harmonies and solo performances, and Wolfe performed that marvellous rock trick of starting a song on the piano and standing up half-way through, manoeuvring his guitar from his back to his front, then performing a beautiful guitar solo. Performers were Owen P, Wolfe F, Daniel W and Cate V. The judge was full of praise for this highly professional, relaxed, confident, diverse outfit. They were poised to take first place, but were just pipped to the post by Teilo.

Teilo House had a strong first band that was extended considerably for the second song. The video was creative with good use of the School site and plenty of paint fights. The first song, The Tyrants Catfish and the Bottlemen demonstrated a very tight rhythm section, with masterful drumming by Katie B, razor-sharp bass playing from Kit C and magnetic lead guitar from Anna R! The second song, The Foo Fighters’ The Sky is the Neighbourhood featuring new drummer Ashley R and three vocalists, lifted the evening to a higher plane! This big band - Anna R, George H, Ashley R, Katie B, Louis V, Sarah K, Finn H, Katie A and Kit C, was a triumph of student cooperation and leadership. They were worthy winners this year!

Our judge was the fantastic OL and professional singer-songwriter Bella Collins (2006 - 2011). We are very grateful for her wise judgement and sound advice. To see more photographs from the event, check out the gallery on our website.

House Points now stand at: Dyfrig 550, Euddogwy 500, Teilo 525