About 100 people flocked to The Brian Jackson Centre in Huddersfield on Friday night to witness the Strayhort’s return to the Charity Battle of the Bands. And what a triumphant return it turned out to be! The band took to the stage as the final act of the evening after an enthusiastic and clumsy introduction as ‘The Strayhorts!’. After a few moments of silence and anticipation the band stepped onto the stage, Aidan greeting the crowd simply with ‘Good evening’ and a wry smile before the band launched into Indigo, playing it at full strength for the first time in over a year and with an energy and enthusiasm which felt like it was 2008 all over again.
Indigo ran into Cracks in the Wall, resulting in a seamless transtition between the classic Strayhort’s song and the only recently debuted. The high energy and atmosphere continued throughout, reviewing from the crowd it felt like every pair of eyes in the room was firmly fixed on the band and there was movement in the crowd, the new song being well received. Following it ‘Too Close’ stirred the crowd once more. Even in this relatively small audience those who recognised the song were pushing and vying for the front of the stage, bringing their flailing limbs and shouts of appreciation with them as all Strayhorts fans do! Led by Aidan hands were raised and clapping along as the song built to an impressive climax.
Espirit d’Escalier, despite being a relatively new song seemed the perfect way to continue the night, but as Aidan began the synth on the song he must have seen some uncertainty from the audience as he assured the crowd, who had temporarily stilled that ‘it’s good, I promise’. Strayhorts then proceeded to deliver on this promise, immersing themselves entirely in the high energy, pacy song they quickly had the audiences attention and support once more, and perhaps even more than before. Espirit wraps up to great approval from the young audience and its obvious neither the band nor the crowd are ready for the set to finish just yet.
As it is announced the band are to play one more song, calls from the crowd are overwhelming, it’s clear the majority of people here are out to hear the ‘greatest hits’.. or hit in this case, in the form of classic closer ‘Do What You Wanna Do’. The request of the people is one the band can’t refuse and as they launch into the song with vigour they are rewarded by an opening up of the crowd, hand clapping and people singing along.. despite not necessarily knowing the words at the beginning!
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As the sound of DWYWD faded out, the band left the stage to the applause and cheers of the crowd, it was time for the finalists to be decided. Of the four bands competing, it was clear Strayhorts had won the crowd over and as such receieved the greatest audience support. After several minutes of cooling down and catching breath for the band it was announced that Strayhorts had sailed into the final. The synth heavy set and triumphant return of Indigo after over a year lying dormant, alongside the newer songs had been a success and Strayhorts definitely had a performance to be proud of. The final of the Battle of the Bands will be held at The Brian Jackson Centre on the 19th of March- definitely a date for your diaries!
Brian Jackson Centre 5th February 2010
Indigo
Cracks In The Wall
TooClose
Espirit
DWYWD
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