Peter WalshTalented musicians from City College Norwich went to head to head in a battle of the bands at the University of East Anglia's LCR venue.Support Norwich on FacebookOfficial Norwich 2013 bid websitePeter Walsh

Talented musicians from City College Norwich went to head to head in a battle of the bands at the University of East Anglia's LCR venue.

The UEA's main stage was the venue for City College Norwich Students' Union Battle of the Bands 2010 competition, which was held on Friday night.

The eight bands which competed - Calibre, Dirty Havana, Elixir, Gameplan, Lost?, The Mustards, Solid Agoes and Two Long Roads - all have at least one student from City College Norwich and cover a range of styles including metal, grunge, punk, rock, blues, acoustic and reggae music.

In front of an audience of about 300 music fans, each band had 15 minutes to impress the panel of judges, who closely watched and marked them on their music, performance and the crowd's reaction to their set.

The judges included music reviewer Bill Vine, local musician Simon Grimbley and City College Norwich Students' Union President Shane Mann.

The winning band was Solid Agoes, who will now be given a 30-minute slot at City College Norwich's Summer Ball later this year and are set to appear on BBC Radio Norfolk and Future Radio. They will also get recording time at Plug Studios, in Kingsway, Norwich.

In second and third place were Elixir and Two Long Roads, who will also get studio time at Plug Studios.

Mr Mann said: 'It was extremely successful in terms of quality and the number of people who came along to watch and listen. It was a really good mix of music.

'It's the first time we've done something like this on this scale and we'll definitely do it again. Hopefully it could become an annual event.

'Norwich is bidding for City of Culture status and has a really lively music scene. The success of these battle of the bands events shows that and this one helped give some recognition to the students we have got. It was a great opportunity for them to play on the LCR stage.'

The event was sponsored by the National Skills Academy and Goldstar Taxis.

Make sure you get the Evening News on Fridays for our Going Out section - including listings and previews about bands performing in and around Norwich.

You can also visit the Going Out section of the website at www.eveningnews24.co.uk

Do you have a story for the Evening News? Call reporter Dan Grimmer on 01603 772375 or email dan.grimmer@archant.co.uk

Support Norwich on FacebookOfficial Norwich 2013 bid website