Rock Monster

Rock Monster kicked off the third night of semi finals in the Gershwin room, and there could not have been a better suited band for such a task, as their polished songs were a perfect way to warm up the amps onstage and ears off stage for the night! They blasted though a five song set playing their latest EP from start to finish! Female singer Ally opened the set with beautiful vocals soaring above for a track called ‘Machine.’ This band is blessed with many vocalists that swap between songs regularly, keeping the crowd interested throughout. Fourth song ‘Whispered Promises’ was a real highlight of the set with Ally taking lead vocals for a slow starting number that amped right up towards the end! This band is a well oiled machine on stage with each song as tidy as any listener would like! Thanks for your quality Rock Monster!

Kid Sidney

Kid Sidney opened up their set with an original piece of theirs called ‘Eyes.’ It is a song that shows off everyone’s talents in the band straight up! The first thing you could see about this seven piece all girl band since their last performance in The Espy Basement was greater confidence and energy on stage! These girls have talent beyond their years! They play a blend of pop rock which is very easy to listen to and you could picture being played on any commercial radio station! Kid Sidney has set the bar very high for all underage bands this season! A real standout of the band is Jess on the drums! Boy oh boy can she play those skins! So tight on the kit and hits with precision! It really is a great thing to see so much youth on stage having a real go at something that they clearly enjoy and it is hard to believe a seven piece band so young can write songs so good! Big things on the horizon for Kid Sidney!

Winona Forever

Winona Forever is lead by lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Luke, who has one of the most unique and special voices we have heard this season! He brought an all new line up to his semi final show as well as a band name change from ‘Lune Zoo’ to ‘Winona Forever.’ They swooned through a set of original material written by Luke that was a real pleasure to listen to. A highlight of the set was the opening song which really tugged at the heart strings! His new band also featured a super drummer and a solid bass player, along with the lead guitar player who used some nice effects though out the set! These are honest songs with real emotion! A delicate set from Winona Forever!

Nikhail

Nikhail! Is this the same band we saw in The Espy Basement? Stagecraft, confidence and sex appeal! They took it to a new level on night three of the semi finals and used everything in the room to their advantage. This included closing the hidden curtain before taking to the stage and opening it to a full band sound blaring through the PA system, nice! There is no doubt that the large stage is where Nikhail belong and with their continued improvement they could end up playing on any stage, big or small.

The Shrunken Heads

With angelic harmonies and a thunderous rhythm section, The Shrunken Heads came back to the Espy Gershwin room with a tighter sound and energetic stage presence. Fronted by European singer Emily, this five piece band looked comfortable on stage with each other and covered everything from hard rock to the sound of music. ‘Favourite Things’ was a highlight and ‘favourite’ of the set whilst the band seemed to enjoy their time on the Espy Gershwin stage, with handshakes all round after their final song! A diverse set from The Shrunken Heads!

Aimee

Aimee is a band of stylish musicians with a solid rhythm section that boast the talents of front lady Aimee Glass who is the singer songwriter of the band. James on the kit puts so much emotion into his playing which is refreshing to see! They finished with an epic piece that started off slow and built and built and built until it reached a climax that showed the real talent Aimee has in her singing voice! A great way to end the set!

Salad Days

Another band that has grown since their first performance in the Espy Basement is Salad Days. There was a late rush of crowd flowing in around the 10:30pm mark, and it was a crew of folks coming to see the band Salad Days. This four piece indie pop rock band has a very loyal following that supports them at all of their shows and their music is something that you could see fitting in well around Melbourne’s northern suburbs. It seems all the energy of the band stems from lead singer Josh who is a natural front man; he just needs the rest of the band to jump on board with him. The second last song of the set was a real highlight, but they amped it up another notch with their closer. The surprise packet of the night, Salad Days!

Cornerstone

Cornerstone made the Espy Gershwin Room Stage their own. With four part harmonies and a wall of guitars, combined with a rocking rhythm section, Cornerstone’s years of honing their individual sound paid off with a riveting performance of showmanship and great songs! ‘Love is Mad’ was a highlight of the set with the whole band joining in on vocals which was a true testament to this bands skill! They finished off strongly with ‘As You Were;’ a riff driven song that brought a great set to a close. Professionalism from Cornerstone!

Shoreside

Well well well, these guys know how to rock hard! Metal was the way to finish the night and these guys left nothing on the stage! This was a set that people who witnessed it will remember for a long long time! Front man Corey seems like the shy type, but once he grabs that microphone something comes over him and he owns the stage area like no other!