Take the Stage – Battle of the Bands
BlueSpark provided funding to run a “Battle of the Bands” style event for young bands based in Chippenham, Wiltshire. Twelve bands were given the opportunity to perform in a professional environment on a large stage. They received a free live recording including a live music video for taking part. 57 young people were directly involved with the event including 49 young musicians, 3 photographers, 3 camera operators and 2 lighting desk controllers. All the participants were aged between 14 and 19. Many of the young people have been able to go on and participate in a variety of other beneficial experiences. Guy Britton, who organised the event, told us “One band is set to perform at FieldView Festival which is a well recognised small festival. One of the bands won free recording time as well as the opportunity to press 200 CDs. Another band won a slot at The Fire & The Forge Festival, and two bands one a slot at ChippFest which has pulled in local crowds in the hundreds. Aside from these obvious large benefits, each band also gained a huge amount of experience from playing on a large professional stage to a huge and supportive audience.”