Non blondes & hookers win in Bury

By Emma Outerbridge
Resident of Sudbury

Hookers' Green cite the Chili Peppers and Rush as influences

With a different panel of judges and a new musical atmosphere compared to heat 1, the outcome was near impossible to predict at heat 2 of BurySOUND 2009 at the Corn Exchange in Bury St Edmunds.

Being the first band is never an easy task, but with their musical skills and good nerves to save them, Hookers' Green rocked the crowd and the judges with their very own brand of 'funkalicious metal'.

With the bassist recently recovering from the dreaded swine flu, it seemed that he in turn made the music infectious, it was a brilliant performance with many people humming and whistling it on the way out.

Next up and stepping out of their comfort zone slightly were Lars And The Howling. Taking on a more rock sound as opposed to their favoured folk seemed to be a good idea based on the previous heat, but with heat two having a more funk feel, it proved to be their downfall.

In pictures: BurySOUND heat 2

There was a crowd of around 200 in the Corn Exchange

Moving the crowd the most with less head-banging and more jumping, were Used To Be Blonde. They calmed down the feel of the evening slightly, but then pushed it right back up with their cover of Backfire At The Disco by The Wombats.

Vide Infra admittedly got the crowd moving the most and the band members had been attending BurySOUND since they were 12.

But those who weren't throwing themselves about were sitting around with the occasional yawn and not being everyone's cup of tea with a very heavy rock sound, they didn't get my vote.

The illusive Waxing Captors were last on, but with not many people seeming to know that much about them, apart from the fact that they are a band, winning the audience over was certainly going to be a difficult task.

Abby Elliot from Used To Be Blonde covered The Wombats in their set

Being better performers than musicians is not a good thing in this competition as most of the crowd seemed to be rather tired and a little bit bored by the end of the night. With the moshpit dwindling in numbers and resulting in three people jumping off each other, it wasn't looking too good.

The lead singer even tried getting into the crowd to liven things up but with little success as one person danced with him before he got back on stage.

The combination of judges and audience votes meant that Hookers' Green and Used To Be Blonde got through to the final, but with one of the judges being a mentor to both bands, you can only help but wonder about the fairness of the decision.

Heat 2's victors will join Not Until Tomorrow and Cure Cabello in the final on Friday 20 November 2009.

Is it going to be a one horse race or a photo finish?

No one can tell, but with all the bands ecstatic about getting through, will the pressure be too much, or will they sail through it?

In pictures: BurySOUND heat 2

Visit the BurySOUND 2009 website for more details about the final.