London band win the Blastbeat with O2 Think Big UK Finals on Tuesday at the IndigO2. Rooks Beat takes best ESE award.
What a great day, and a fantastic way to finish the Blastbeat year! We hope that you all had as much fun as we did. The 12 performances from the competing acts were absolutely superb, and this could have been the most high-quality Blastbeat competition ever!
The line-up of artists, and the schools they were representing, was:
- E.L.K. (Brampton Manor Academy)
- Amethyst Tetra (Priestley College)
- 14 Car Pile Up (Northwood School)
- Mammoth Sound (Bridge Academy)
- In Dante’s Eclipse (St Edmunds School)
- Dae La Ruse (Brentside High School)
- The Soulfly Music Group (Haringey 6th Form Centre)
- Hot Fudge (All Saints School)
- Feird Wish (Hillcrest Community School)
- Find Me Next Fall (Northwood School)
- Demo (Rooks Heath College)
- Bentley Park (All Saints School)
The competing acts were joined by spoken word artist Martin Powell, musicians Kamahl Kelly, Kwamz, Kindest of Thieves, Just Me Again, and Diffuse, and West Midlands Dance Troupe Lab Ratz. Once again, our resident MCs Don & Bowaa hosted the show and it all made for a really exciting and diverse afternoon.
It must have been one of the toughest judging decisions ever, but after deliberation, Find Me Next Fall were crowned Blastbeat Winners 2011. Demo, and Mammoth Sound were named as the 2 best runners up.
Congratulations to the winning bands, and also to all the other artists that performed at the Final.
Alongside the music competition, the best ESEs (Event Social Enterprise Companies) were showcasing their work in the VIP lounge to a panel of judges. ESEs were competing for one of 3 Think Bigger awards from O2 Think Big. The standard of work was very high, and it was great to see a culmination of the hard work that these very talent young people had put in. The winning ESE was Rooks Beat, from Rooks Heath College in Harrow. EQ Events from the Bridge Academy in Hackney, and Semi-Tone from St Edmunds School in Wolverhampton came second and third respectively.
Live Breathe Music from Brampton Manor Academy in Newham took the Judges Award on the day in light of their fantastic work since September. Congratulations to all the young people who formed an ESE and took part in the Blastbeat programme this year – without you, none of this would be possible. You are the real stars of the Blastbeat programme.
Blastbeat would like to thank Helen Parker, and all the team at O2 Think Big for their wonderful support over the past year, without which none of this could have happened. If you were lucky enough to stay on for the Think Big Gig on Tuesday evening, you will have seen what fantastic work they have been doing. For more info on O2 Think Big, please visit www.o2thinkbig.co.uk
Blastbeat Winners 2011
Find Me Next Fall 1st Place Band
Demo Runner Up
Mammoth Sound Runner Up
Rooks Beat 1st Place ESE
EQ Events 2nd Place ESE
Semi-Tone 3rd Place ESE
Live Breathe Music Judges Award
