The Clash
Final!
Coraline | Ivan Campo | Bleeding Hands | ortoPilot | Group photo | ReviewAct 1: Coraline - go to Coraline band page »
Songs about stories, tunes that tell tales...
Act 2: Ivan Campo - go to Ivan Campo band page »
A continuous series of short stories delivered in the medium of song.
Act 3: Bleeding Hands - go to Bleeding Hands band page »
Roots acoustic music, sometimes sparce often endeering always passionate...
Act 4: ortoPilot - go to ortoPilot band page »
A tight duo with a good feel to their tunes.
Group photos
The host Andrew Hackland (right), and sound engineer/co-host, Phil Reed, prepare to announce the results.
The four places are about to be announced.
All the acts prepare the announcement of the winners...
- Equal third (tie!): Bleeding Hands and Ivan Campo, who win £112.50 each
- Second place: ortoPilot, who win £200
- First place: Coraline, who win 5 hours studio time with Airtight Productions, and £250!
The winners, Coraline (left), and crowd. The venue was full to capacity, double the usual number of punters.
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Review by London/Mcr writer, Jemma Regan
Fairytale Ending
So the final was finally here and the bands had been whittled down from forty to only four. Bleeding Hands, Coraline, Ivan Campo and ortoPilot completed the line up, each of them a winner to get to this stage in the competition, but each eager for the first place slot of half a days studio time at Airtight Productions and £250. With generous prize money of £200 for second place, £150 for third and £75 for fourth, nobody would go away empty handed. The bar began to fill up with punters and supporters and the atmosphere was sparkling rowdy with anticipation.
The order of acts was chosen at random by the host, Andrew Hackland, from specially custom made envelopes, courtesy of Phil Reed; Coraline were first up. A polished, professional performance from the duo, Rae Evans on vocals and keys and Sarah Mayo on violin, the fairytale themed set was delivered with confidence and was generally well received, particularly from the evident accompanying fanbase. I was particularly fond of the tune, ‘Rapunzel’, the catchy line, ‘let your hair down’ resonating in my ears days afterwards. Rae’s vocal dexterity, reminiscent of Kate Bush’s abstractism coupled with Sarah’s flawless violin playing I felt like I had been lured into an enchanted forest through disappearing trapdoors and liquid mirrors whilst floating on a magic carpet, oh if it wasn’t for the onlookers incessant chatter throughout the performance. A good set to set of an exceptional night.
Next up was Ivan Campo and the trusty miniature keyboard. For me, the set expressed a kind of concept feel with each track melting into the next to create a hypnotic ambience in which it’s audience jigged about submissively. The track ‘Gangsta Trippa’ is unavoidably infectious and demonstrates the quirky tongue in cheek formula that makes Ivan Campo’s stuff agreeable.
Round three saw Andy Hughes, more notably known as Bleeding Hands. Just one man and his guitar. Or rather just one man with a bloody big heart worn on his sleeve, that throbs through the guitar he is playing like they are joined by a single life force. Perhaps this explains the overflow onto his talented appendages. The set switched between vitriolic outbursts such as Magic Spell and softer sentimental tracks the most moving being ‘strange addiction’. A new song called ‘Camelot’ that had been ‘inspired by the sunshine’, (a rare occurrence in our fair city of Mancunia) completed the set and in my opinion epitomised the raw passion of Bleeding Hand’s repertoire.
Last but not least were ortoPilot, the only act to offer a mix of originals and covers. The charisma of the lead singer Matt charmed the audience, and the addition of Nayf, bongo man could not fail in raising the roof of Revise. The interpretation and delivery of ‘Time is Running Out’ by Muse was ambitious and evidently achievable. The whole set had an upbeat tempo that had the audience jiving, singing and foot tapping away. A great finale to the evening.
Then came the hard part, the public vote. It was a very close call but someone had to win and in this instance the ladies came out on top. Coraline won first place, ortoPilot second and Bleeding Hands and Ivan Campo received joint third, splitting the prize money of £112.50 each. The tightness of the result was testimony to the success of the event. Not to mention the fact that Revise Bar was packed, people had to be turned away, the bar staff became bouncers and the organisers became glass collectors. All in all a brilliant success! Well done to all the acts, the bar staff, the host Andrew Hackland and last but not least the organisers Mike Rickard and Phil Reed, who made this whole event possible and gave Manchester musicians a chance to stand up and be heard. In the words of Tony Wilson, ‘this is Manchester. We do things differently here’.
Jemma Regan