Blast:Beat TV is back this Friday May 5th at 7.00pm on RTE TWO and the pressure is mounting. The Blast:Beat Regional Finals take place in Derry, Dublin, Cork and Galway and our teams and their bands travel to meet other participating schools and their bands – including some of the companies who are topping the Blast:Beat league table. The tension is up to the max as we discover which bands will – and which bands won’t – make it to the final in May.
Schools Update
Zodiac TY, Ursuline College, Sligo
The girls are doing everything they can to support their band, the brilliant Franz Ferdinand-esque The Neighbourhood, and Siobhan had some tips for them. The Zodiacs pick Siobhan’s brains on everything from promotional t-shirts and fliers to filling the two buses the girls have booked to get the Sligo fans to Galway. The winners on the night are mini-metallers Transgress, a bunch of tiny rock stars from Loughrea, who at 13 year old could barely reach the mic, but certainly knew how to rock the joint. Meanwhile rival company Pulse TY are out in force, with massive banners and loud chants. he Zodiac girls are impressed by their dedication, but by no means daunted.
Hell’s Hippies, Castletroy College, Limerick
At Cork’s Half Moon Theatre, a handful of the Hell’s Hippies arrive to support their two bands, Section Pink and Soloway. Unfortunately Section Pink admit that they’ve only rehearsed once since talking to Bren in Ep 3. Although they get the crowd bopping, they don’t have a hope with the judges, and the end of the road is nigh for Sile and the gang. The judges note that they’d played better before, and the Castletroy metalheads lose points for unimaginiative lyrics. Nevertheless, they make it through as runners up.
Dark Synergy Productions, Blackrock College, Co Dublin At Radio City, playing to a jam-packed house, all three of Blacrock’s bands get through – Krimsin as all-out winners and Home Star Runner and SteerClear as runners up. The Dark Synergy boys are delighted. Meanwhile, successful Leinster company Up Beat Records have been brought in to run the gig, and reveal to camera about how they made major profits over the year – by selling glow sticks in school and at gigs! The public-minded company have decided to dedicate their hard earned cash to official Blast:Beat charity 2winaid.
Heartbeatz, Sacred Heart College, Omagh
Derry’s Nerve Centre is rammed to the rafters with raucous, coolly-clad music fans and company supporters. The Heart Beatz gang arrive in 2 buses, raring to go! Shauna is nervous about performing to such a big crowd, and as the only solo-ist, it’s a tough challenge. Shauna gets chatting to judge Robyn Robbins, who she recorded with in the last programme – he was such of fan of her amazing voice that he offered her her first formal gig – performing in studio for a new album which Madonna’s brother is producing!
Additional Information Blackrock College: This is an all boys school in Dublin famous for it’s rugby and past pupils like Bob Geldof and Brian O’Driscoll. Denis Kilty spearheads their company known as ‘Dark Synergy’. The company is very good at talking the talk but can they walk the walk as well?
Castletroy Community College: Castletroy Community College is a mixed school situated in the Limerick suburb of Castletroy. Hells Hippies is the name of their company and in the words of their website they’re working to ‘ set the Irish music scene on fire’. Sinead Humphries is the chief fire starter and the company has a strong interest in metal and IT.
Sacred Heart Omagh: This is our Northern Ireland school and it’s a mixed secondary school in Omagh. It’s a relatively small company called Heartzbeatz. Laura Garrity manages them. This is their first year entering the competition and they’ve got the support of the whole school behind them.
Urusline College Sligo: The Ursulines are convent girls from Sligo who have formed a company called Zodiac TY. These are very individual ladies who have a great interest in both performing and managing music. CEO Jennifer Gorman oversees this contingent.
Blast:Beat TV Gurus
Bren Berry was a key figure with the Coltranes, a group who won plenty of friends with their melodic jangle, before eventually mutating into Revelino – one of the finest locally based Irish bands of the 90s. Berry was also responsible for managing and promoting the group – skills which in 1998 led to him embarking on a parallel career as a publicist and booker for Vicar Street, one of Ireland’s premier venues. Revelino has since hung up their guitars, but Berry remains a key player at the Dublin venue. Over the years he has dealt with just about every notable musician and manager on the planet including Metallica, Quincy Jones, U2, the Rolling Stones and Guns N Roses.
Siobhan O’Dowd is a tireless worker during her year with the Trinity Student Ents team, Siobhan O’Dowd quickly found a permanent home at the Red/Box. There she’s risen through the ranks to mastermind Press, PR and Marketing for the Pod Promotions Company, incorporating both in-house gigs and outside events. Although only 24 years old, she has been working in the music industry for eight years and has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Eddie Izzard and Metallica.