THE UK’S BIGGEST BATTLE OF THE BANDS AND ACTS COMPETITION - Bedford Feedback From Live And Unsigned!

The UK’s biggest battle of the bands and acts competition came to Bedford in the form of Live and Unsigned this weekend. It took place on Saturday 25^th February at The Corn Exchange, Bedford! Over 400 unsigned musicians turned up to audition for the UK’s biggest battle of the bands and acts competition in Bedford in front of the judging panel of music industry specialists.

Judging the UK’s biggest battle of the bands and acts competition at The Corn Exchange in Bedford were; Tina Campbell, who is the editor online magazine Crave on Music; Dutch Van Spall from Big Help Management; Christine Evans from Pitch Perfect Vocals; and Head of A&R at Future Music Ben Price.

If you want to perform in front of judges like the above for the UK’s biggest battle of the bands and acts competition Live and Unsigned enter now!

Well done to all those who auditioned for the UK’s biggest battle of the bands and acts competition in Bedford especially the few who made it through to the Live Regional Final shows on Sunday 8^th April at The Corn Exchange, Bedford.

Find below feedback from the audition day, unfortunately with so many acts auditioning it’s impossible to give every act feedback. However, please find feedback for a selected few who stood out for both the right (and sometimes wrong) reasons!

Want to enter the music competition Open Mic UK? Click here to find out more information.

Please be aware views expressed by judges are opinions and subjective to that particular judging panel. These views in no way reflect the views of Live and Unsigned, but are published with a view to being beneficial to the performing bands and singers who auditioned. We ask you to please take the feedback onboard with a view to helping acts improve.

The UK’s Biggest Battle of the Bands and Acts Competition Bedford – AUDITION FEEDBACK!

Sophie Dinni – Great confidence and a great voice. Nice original song. Learn to perform more to the judges/audience. Watch the top notes.

Naomi Keysha – Nice song. Beautiful tone. Love the necklace. Watch your pitch. Looking forward to seeing you perform on a bigger stage in the next round.

Departure – Great vibe from the first note! Good image. Good song. Vocals could be stronger. Catchy riffs.

Ryan Carter – Seemed frightened. Relax!

Drop Down Smiling – Started with lots of energy but fell a bit flat. Good harmonies at the end.

Alecto’s Lions – Good vocals. Catchy song but needs to be tighter in places. Love the Gremlins T-Shirt. There’s a huge gap between you when you perform, move closer.

Holly Carter – Good but you need to be a front woman in a band (other judges thought you were better as a solo though). Needs work on vocal. Nice guitar. 

Crazy James – Good performance, like the look.

Ryan Crowley  - Love the image. Good accent in the voice and nice strong playing. Loved the whole sound.

Albert Road – Loved the band at first but went off course a little. Needs more energy and chemistry there’s no engagement with each other. Distortion didn’t work.

Amplified – It’s work in progress. Needs to gel together a little better. Keep doing it and you’ll be good! Keep gigging and building the performance.

Abi – Lovely lovely lovely! Great voice and a brilliant song. Lovely use of registers. Open your eyes more please.

Leon Bratt – Very engaging. Great image and love the playing. The singing could potentially be softer to compliment the playing and vibe. Loved it!

As We Climb – Good energy and good image. Excellent original song. Enjoyed the backing vocals, they worked really well. Really tight.

Kat Adamou – Very sweet image. Looked very nervous and needs to perform more. But overall good and nice to hear original material from one so young.

Decades Apart – Song was a little basic. Needs more energy all around. Need to work on band style. Vocals need to be developed.

Corrine Brown – Great image.

Karly Loasby – Great image, great voice, would like to see more from you.

Vanna – Potential for a good voice. Some vocal coaching would help iron out some problem areas. Credit for coming back you were very good second time around but perhaps this was one year too soon.

Alaska Compass - Different is good but it seemed a little messy. Great frontman. Bass player looked a little alienated and didn’t perform much.

Kribbar – Like the song, a bit lifeless though. Potential is there. A well thought out performance. Could be more dynamic.

Sophie Jamieson – Love the guitar sound. You are unique which is what we’re looking for. Fabulous song! Try to connect with the audience more.

Sandy Man – Nice timings. Good image. Has some good potential. Good song! Could do with a little more attitude.

The UK’s Biggest Battle of the Bands and Acts Competition Bedford – ENTER NOW!

Ned ‘the kids Dylan’ – A funny song for a boy so young to be performing. Work in progress. Playing needs to develop. Songwriting is good though.

Jay-Sim  - Express yourself more. Project more. Potential is there to develop. Need to continue writing as there’s definitely something there.

Julian Mann – Work on connecting with the song.

Music & Spies – Like the style but relax on the vocals.

Saskia Parks – Very Kate Nash with a guitar. Work on the image - it’s a little casual. Love your individuality.

Kamakat – Nice voice! Open your eyes to connect with the audience.

James Morgan – Please open your eyes! No audience engagement as a result. Enjoyed the song though.

Mushanna – Look at the audience/judges rather than each other. Good harmonies but they could be tighter.

Near Moment – Song could use more continuity.

Modern Mentality  – Catchy song. Good use of the backing vocals.

Flora – Good eye contact and very strong styling. You need to work on your vocals though.

Proscovia – Nice pure voice. Prepare better for your performance though and try to connect more with the audience/judges.

I am Ryan – Some good individual elements. More energy needed all around the band. Like the song, it was instantly catchy!

Third Paradox – Good growls! Need to watch the rest of the vocals though. Lacking energy.

Hannah Fox – Liked the voice. Could do with being a little more connected with the song.

Pierre Marsh – Distinctive voice. Enjoyed the song but you need to lose the nerves.

Jess Haven – Need to work on the nerves to stop them from overshadowing your voice.

Zoe & Zara – Well performed but you need to polish the vocal. Would like to hear it with backing music. Decent song. Lovely smiles!

Nade – Good performance and vocals. Need to work on your styling though.

Last Chance – Seemed a bit too vocally led. Needs to be a bit more in the music. The elements are there but work on the arrangements.

One Less Finger – Didn’t see that coming. Front man doesn’t look metal. It was hard to follow musically. Messy in parts but the potential is there.

Optional Rubberduck – Great energy and a well-rehearsed audition. Like the cheekiness. Need to tighten up as a band though.

Stanley Onz – Engaging. Good song, catchy.

Natures Trick – Need to work on your performance.

Orange Hat – Relatively tight but both vocals are a little weak.  Good full sound coming from a 3-piece. Interesting arrangement.

The UK’s Biggest Battle of the Bands and Acts Competition Bedford – Further Feedback

Quiet for the Speaker – Tight band, good vocals. Good dynamics. Good energy. One of the best performing bands of the day!

New Falls Club – Good front man but lacking energy around the edges.  Where are the backing vocals? Decent song.

Serilla – Don’t wear sunglasses inside.

Millicent – Need to engage with the audience and connect with the song more.

Shock Hazard – Yes! Great energy and performance level. Tight and passionate. Should potentially go far in this competition!

Nick Scott – Good vocal range and use of dynamics. Well done.

Shades of Sound – Don’t wear coats on stage, it looks messy. A good sounding band with a strong vibe. Liked it. Powerful vocals.

Slanted Frames – Good vocals and a good cover.

Young Tizzle – Don’t wear sunglasses inside. The image and the act needs to be coherent, it wasn’t.

Silent Frenzy – Vocals not quite there but the band is great musically. Vocals need to be warmed up beforehand. Unconfident start but improved.

Sancho Blanco – Nice feeling coming from the band. Like the backing vocals they’re used very effectively.

Kevin Sullivan –Pleasant act. Needs updating and it’s a bit basic.

Sancho Blanco – Good band. The guy with the yellow guitar should be the frontman!

Scrum Downs – Good vibes but it’s a bit messy. Nice fun act.

Bongalin – Started off well with the rapping and lost it a bit on the singing. Think you were too worried  about the dance moves. The track is good but you need to work on your sung vocals. Backing track was let down by pitching.

Hazard – Good energy but get closer to each other on stage. Enjoyed the energy.

Reverentia – Work in progress. Rehearse more and make sure it’s a bit more defined, at the moment it’s too messy.

Super Casino – Good frontman - plenty of energy. Like the bass. Good song. Full of charisma. Nice, tight sound.

Wasted Rhymes – Harmonies need work. Good fun act. Tight band. Love the male lead he has so much passion for his music.

Velvet Angel – Good chemistry between members. Good song.

Time Well Spent – A band with identity, good to see.

Beverage Executives – Would have liked to have heard an original song.  This felt a little empty.

Tiger Blue – Love the sound the acoustic guitar brings through.

The Divisional – Looks a bit dated. Nice elements though but needs more backing vocals. Don’t wear sunglasses on stage, you lose a connection with the audience.

Tyger – Need more expression in the face. Show connection with the song. Nice tune.

Shabby Tinkers – So many of you but each of you comes through in the sound, there’s nothing wasted. A very clever composition.

Machine Gun Etiquette – A little messy for now but you can be good with more practise.

The UK’s Biggest Battle of the Bands and Acts Competition Bedford

Acts that make it through to the Live Showcases will be in with the opportunity to win a multitude of prizes. The winners of both the Blackstar Exposure Award, the award for the act with the largest quantity of submitted publicity material in relation to the competition, and the Extreme Exposure Award, the award for the act who performs the most high publicity stunt, will win a free day in a local recording studio worth up to £250, or if the winning act is a band, they’ll win a brand new Blackstar amp. The Live and Unsigned studio partner for Bedford is Cowshed Studios. Runners up for the Blackstar Exposure Award will receive free music lessons worth up to £125, courtesy of vocal coach Christine Evans.

In addition, acts that make it through to the Live Showcases will be given a chance to win festival slots, with festival organisers selecting acts to perform at their 2012 festival at each stage of the competition. Bedford acts will also be within a chance of being selected to perform a slot at over 14 festivals on the Live and Unsigned festival tour and particular to the Midlands, the Regional Festival Partners are Osfest and Folk on the Water.

If you’d like to come along to see some of the bands and acts that made it through to the Bedford Regional Showcase Finals on Sunday 8th April at The Corn Exchange, Bedford, click here to go to the Live and Unsigned website to purchase tickets or if you want to get involved for next year then click here to enter.