In Battle of the Bands at the Swan Inn, Truro they take no prisoners. If the crowd think you're crap, you're left with a deathly silence at the end of you're set (insert tumbleweed blowing here). If they like you, then you're met with rapturous applause, hooting and heckling and can go home feeling like a star even if only your Granny or your mum thinks so.
The pub is you're average spit and sawdust place, intent on providing the best in live music. You won't find sundried tomato and feta cheese ciabatta's on the menu here. But you will get a good pint and packet of crisps while you watch the bands. The rules Monday 18 July was heat five in the Battle of the Bands calendar. Four bands all intent on reaching the semi's in August. The deal is, there are four judges giving each band points out of five based on musical content, stage presence, audience reaction and technical ability. Final points are awarded for the loudest cheer from the crowd. Winners go through to the semi-finals held on 22 August and then the finals in September. Overall winners get either two days in a recording studio or a PA mixing desk. The set-to In heat five we had: Obsydian Tears (rock/metal) I cannot comment on this band as I have to admit I didn't make it down the Swan in time to see them play, (sorry lads or err lasses). Next up were Groove Machine. The name conjures up the idea of a 70's style pop duo, this they are anything but. Grunge, heavy rock, metal style, they played well, guitar heavy rock, but the Jimmy Hendrix number went on far to long for my liking and the lead guitarist who tried to play using his teeth or tongue or whatever it was - don't. It was so cheesy and it took the emphasis away from the music. Maybe that was the intention. The pond life Then on came The Mosquitoes. When I fist saw this band I hated them. It was in a large venue and I paid little attention to the lyrics. But get close and listen in and they definitely grow on you. Their music is unique. You can't categorise it, annoyingly. But they describe it as 'Anglo-Spanish-footy-punk'. The band came on stage wearing Brazilian footy shirts with their names emblazoned on the back. Jose, Raul, Chico, Pedro and Torremolinos. A psuedo South American band, frontman Raul puts on one hell of a show. He came out from behind the guitarist and started pogo-ing, knocking over lights, singing (if you can call it that) in a broken Spanglish accent and generally putting on a rock n roll circus. Now that's entertainment. Songs that seemed to particularly get the crowd laughing and tapping their feet were, 'My Woman', 'Chihuahua' and 'Bogota'. They even had their own groupies. Impressive. Next up were emo-rock, grunge style band Mentaporta. They managed to bring along a big crowd the only downfall of which were the groups of 18 year old goth, mosher wannabes. The band were ok, not an assault on the ears but I wasn't wowed by them. Lots of serious guitar heavy tracks. They didn't have the stage presence of the previous band for me and I felt it was a hard act to follow. The winner is... After a short interval the judges made their decision and we had the crowd cheering test. Mentaporta and the Mosquitoes were tied at this point but the Mosquitoes had the edge and took the title of 'Battle of the Bands heat winners'. A well deserved win. See you at the semi finals on 22 August. | 
