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In truth, any of the nine acts in Greystones’ first-ever Stepping Stones: Battle Of The Bands could – and should – have walked away with a prize.
As anyone who attended the live final in The Hot Spot on Sunday, April 23rd will attest, the standard was pretty darn incredible.
Not one dud note between them, not one dud, deluded artist up on that stage.
From Adam Leddy to Next To The Attic, from Emily Beattie to dynamic duo Lauren McBride & Sam Cox, each and every single one of the entrants to the competition had something special to offer.
We’re still trying to get our heads around 11-year-old James Fennell and his pretty-much-perfect, one-man-band rendition of Billy Joel’s Piano Man.
In the end, two prizes were up for grabs – the main one from the public vote, the second from the seasoned judges (including Something Happens’ Ray Harman and Enemies’ Eoin Whitfield).
When it came to the public showing their love and support, the votes went into the hundreds, with two particularly hot favourites emerging over the last two weeks. In the end, it was all down to indie darlings Next To The Attic and all-girl harmony folksters Taken, with the latter just pipping the former to the post in the last few days.
So, congrats to Taken. We’ll be catching up with the girls Monday evening, to find out how they’re coping with all that fame and fortune – and the incredible first prize of recording time with Hive Studios, a snazzy video recording with budding auteur Robin J. Kavanagh and a photoshoot with Pablo Photography.
And all thanks to those crazy, sexy, cool people at Greystones 2020 and the Greystones Municipal Distict Council, who coughed up the glorious €1,500 worth of prizes. Nice.
Today, we managed to catch up with three quarters of Judges Prize winners Feuds. Bassist Adam O’Sullivan was Missing In Action. Or, to be more precise, Missing After Action, having been out on the lash last night.
Luckily, dedicated band members Evan Bruton, Danny Bradley and Neil Greene were present and correct. We caught up with the band over at the Scouts Den in Kilcoole, the town’s main venue when it comes to rock agus roll.
Should give a big shout-out too to Emily Beattie, Lauren McBride & Sam Cox and Niall Woods, who were also singled out by the judges as exceptional talents.
You can listen to all the wonderful artists who competed this year right about here, find out what makes them rock right here, and see how Taken took to their prize here. We’ll be posting the fruits of the winning bands‘ recording and video sessions on your soaraway Guide later this month. In the meantime, all hail the conquering Feuds…
You can find out more about Robin J. Kavanagh here, Eoin Whitfield and Hive Studios here, The Hot Spot here, and Pablo Photography here.