BurySOUND’23 Heat 1
A Bury rapper better known in London than his hometown became the first act to make it through to the final of BurySOUND 2023. Ev impressed the judges with his stage presence, rap and singing blend and lyrics, to win heat one of this competition, now in its twenty-fifth year.
The judges had to decide on the merits of the five disparate acts taking part in heat one. It is never easy for the judging panel when faced with the task of comparing diverse genres. A great deal of discussion took place as they whittled down the performances to just two, then one. This was a close run heat.
The difficult task of opening then evening and, indeed the competition, fell to Red Flag, a three piece combination of keyboards drums and guitar. A band with promise that we will watch with interest and if that random French girl who wasn’t there wants to know – we wished you happy birthday.
Singer songwriter Angel Kidd had some technical issues with his guitar at the beginning of his set. These were promptly sorted by the organisers and Angel Kidd carried on with little dent to his confidence or performance.
Anorak played their first ever gig at BurySOUND last year and it was interesting to see the difference a year of gigging and rehearsing makes. Now playing as a five piece, with the inclusion of an additional guitar, this band are tight, confident, and well worth seeking out on the circuit.
Rounding off the night were The Dutch House, an indie rocking quartet with jazz overtones – was I the only one hearing that? Maybe. Driven by a power house rhythm section sprinkled with light guitar funk this is another band I am going to have to seek out and hear outside the un-natural confines of a band competition.
Band competitions are not everyone’s cup of tea. How can you compare rock bands, rap artists and solo guitar players? But these competitions do give individual artists exposure to new audiences, in turn the audience have the opportunity to hear something different. That BurySOUND is celebrating it’s twenty-fifth birthday this year is testament to the appetite for such events.
There are four more heats to go at The Hunter Club in Bury St Edmunds before the Grand Final at The Apex on 14th April. It is a fiver well spent to see five band plus a guest headliner. See you next week.
Unfortunately heat 1 winner Ev has pulled out of the competition but – not to worry because BurySOUND are thrilled beyond biscuits to welcome heat 1 runners up Anorak to the final. Anorak join the winners from the heats which have taken place so far in the form of Bluefeed and Outbound and alongside the 2022 winners Collars and the winners from heats 4 and 5 will take to the stage at The Apex on Friday 14th April.
