Highlight of the Week

Battle of the Bands

We enjoyed a marvellous evening of rock ‘n’ roll on the final Friday before half term. It is always a very relaxed occasion where the crowd can share their appreciation with great enthusiasm, and this year there was a refreshingly different entry from each house. We started with the music videos that each house had pre-prepared. Dyfrig’s display of jazzy musical skills and style filmed in the Jubilee Building used some snazzy cut shots and was buoyed up by good humour. Euddogwy had filmed their rock video in and outside a home in Cardiff, and was full of committed performances, including an uncredited grey cat successfully lip-synching. Teilo experimented with colour in their video, which was mainly filmed in the music department and featured some strange goings on in the castle…

Dyfrig kicked off the live performances with a very energetic version of Message in a Bottle by The Police, which took some of us in the audience right back to our “new wave” schooldays. This was followed by Valerie by Amy Whitehouse. This was a very experienced band who delivered a highly polished performance. Hollie R’s spot-on vocals and natural performance were supplemented by the masterful Nathan C on drums, the cool Gethin H on sax and the debonair Harry R on guitar. Danyal M performed with great enthusiasm on bass and Huw W gave a highly professional performance on keyboards with a smile.

Next up were Euddogwy, with: Sofia B on lead vocal, Ariella A on drums, Iris P on bass and Phoebe B on guitar. What they lacked in experience they certainly made up for in raw enthusiasm and personality. Sofia lived every note she sang, which contrasted brilliantly with the cool, commanding stage presence of the guitarists with Ariella’s positivity shining through from the back of the stage. They chose two very contemporary rock songs: Gossip by Maneskin and Celebrity Skin by Hole.

Last year’s winners, Teilo fielded two bands, one for each song, which were carefully managed by Ashley R and Henry G. A total of nine pupils took to the stage, Ashley R (drums), Ted E-O (bass), Will H (guitar), Oli P (vocals), Vedant L (piano), Emily H (vocals), George H (guitar), Jacob L (piano), Myles M (guitar). A fine display of musicianship was appreciated by the crowd, and their choice on one boy (Ollie) and one girl vocalist (Emily) provided a great contrast in styles. We hugely appreciated both their “classic” rock number Heart-shaped box by Nirvana and their more contemporary Toxicity by System of a Down.

In the end, the sophisticated polish of Dyfrig House won out, and they were narrowly awarded first place, with Euddogwy second and Teilo third.