We’ve now completed the heat stages of the Bloodstock M2TM Competition. 25 bands took to the stage in Trillians and there’s been some amazing performances. And some Donk. But mostly, amazing performances.
As well as being the first time for the Bloodstock M2TM Competition is Newcastle, it’s also my first time at running a Battle of the Bands style competition. 10 years of this and it’s the first time I’ve really done it – and fuck – there’s been so many so so good bands who didn’t get through, it was heartbreaking.
But, that in itself, is a big testamanet to the quality of some of the Underground bands in Newcastle and the the Region and I recommend every one of them. (Even the Donk).
I certainly look forward to working with some of the bands in other capacities in the future.
So. 10 bands got through to the Semi Finals in May.
The running orders for these are to be confirmed, as we need to shuffle and randomise, so the order here is the order they appeared in the heats.
Semi Final 1 : May 15th at Think Tank. £4 Entry.
Hellion Rising, Arcite, Guardian, Devil’s Night, Rusted Hero
Semi Final 2 : May 29th at Think Tank. £4 Entry.
Guilt City, The Distorted, Dirty King, Souls of Jack Ketch, I’ll Play the Villain
Progression to the final changes slightly from the Heats. With a stronger focus on judge votes, although fan votes (cheers) do still contribute – we are considering other models also to register fan votes.
Fans have played a major part in the heat stages – we have had a number of very, very close rounds where the ultimate decision on which band went through and which didn’t had rested on crowd cheers.
A total of 5 bands will go through the final – this will be the two winners of each heat and the judges decision on strongest 3rd place band.
These bands were all quality in the heats and it’ll be good to see them battle out in the semis but will be, undoubtedly, ridiculously close.
£4 for 5 amazing bands each night? Bargain.