Half a Dog win Battle of the Bands Semi-Final

Around 25 bands competed for a place in the semi-finals of the Battle of the Bands. The field narrowed to 10, the first 5 appearing in last night's semi-final, yet despite the quality of the honed, filtered field, clear winners emerged.

The cocky showmanship of first band Girl of Prey’s frontman made them a polarising act from the get-go. Many in the crowd were quick to classify, probably rightly, the band’s singer as an arrogant w**ker. True, but that’s what made the band memorable and lent them a stage presence that most other bands in this competition lacked. Girl of Prey’s Nu-metal stylings were, combined with the frontman’s posturing, entertaining if not innovative; worth their place in the semis (and maybe the finals?) definitely. The Umbrella cover got the crowd going too.

Porcelain Flamingo, the next band, also had an undeniable stage presence. One of the largest bands in the competition, the Flamingos consisted of a five-strong female vocal section plus the usual suspects (bass, drums, guitar etc), with the band’s male complement dressed in fairy wings and little else. Aspirations were far-reaching and progressive, producing epic multi-instrumental pieces (including a Disney medley) that at times crossed the Beefheart-esque with influences like perhaps Mr Bungle or The Arcade Fire. The band displayed immense potential, but were in places un-polished and slightly off time (the singers apparently couldn't hear themselves well through the monitors at first, though this got better throughout the set). The Barry song was class though, an epic piece about...well I really have no clue -Barry I guess.

Best band of the night and rightful winners of this semi-final, Half a Dog, have been touted as hot contenders for the Battle of the Bands title since the heats. The band gave a mixed performance; classic up-tempo blues rock, soul funk and sick-ass beatboxing - but all reeking with a sheer class that no-one else here could truly claim to match. Half a Dog were one of the few bands of the night that I would actually shell out to see in a ‘proper’ gig, and were a band that didn’t require novelty to excite. No surprise that they won; in fact, their semi-final victory seemed inevitable from the moment of their gracing the stage. It will take some act to beat them.

Penultimate act Low Flying Flag were another absolutely class band and would inevitably accompany Half a Dog to the final. Despite not really being that obviously innovative, the band were tighter than a duck’s ass and somehow produced hard rock/metal that you could dance and move to (yeah… wow!). Combine that with maybe the coolest drumming in the competition and you have a band that easily deserved to progress… and they did. The students of York Uni get it right again.

Last up, heavy rocking Hung (“WE ARE HUNG”) capped the night with an impressive performance, including an absolutely SICK Rage Against the Machine medley. Hung’s tunes were loud, brash and got the crowd going to the extent of a brief mini mosh pit at one point. No one’s ever gonna be Rage, but Hung had the energy and big riffs to impress, and had considerably improved their stage-presence since the heats. The band were unlucky not to progress into the next round, but Low Flying Flag and Half a Dog probably deserved it in the end.

The final standings were:

1st – Half a Dog (Through to final)

2nd – Low Flying Flag (Through to final)

3rd – Girl of Prey (Through if they receive more votes than the 3rd place band in other semi final)

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