News about the Original Bands Showcase 2010

The OBS is run by VJT Promotions - they can be contacted via the links below. This page provides information and news that we have gathered from them.

Our coverage of bands playing at the OBS heats can be found on Gig Reviews page

The 6th OBS started on 27th February

Dates for the heats and Grand Final are up now on Myspace

Click on image to open an enlargement

Heat 1 - 27th February

The band that went through was Stephen and the Heathens

Heat 2 - 6th March

The bands that were rostered were:

Wayward Trippers (pulled out), The Pennyhangers, Identity Parade. Drive by Disco and Ashdowne

and Ashdowne went through to the next round.

OBS on Facebook

The Musician Stage plays host to many artists in particular blues/roots for their stages at The Big Session, Summer Sundae Weekender and more. It also hosts the two Original Bands Showcase winners at the Summer Sundae festival, annually.

What is OBS?

OBS 2009 was won by Leicester band The Heroes. MegaDub were runners-up.

Playing to a packed Shed, with people actually queuing outside to get in, on a swelteringly hot night, four bands took to the stage to bring the OBS to its conclusion.

The Heroes, as winners of the 5th OBS, won one days recording at Deadline Studios, a slot to play at the Summer Sundae festival and £400 in cash. Runners up Megadub also get to play a slot at the Summer Sundae weekender, and £100 in cash. Two other bands won £100 each and all bands get a day ticket to attend the SS festival.

The full lineup for the night was MegaDub, Raptor Captor, The Heroes, The Hordes. Last years winners, M48, rounded the night off as the guest band from the previous year.

At the start of the show people were predicting that the Heroes would win, but The Hordes had brought down a vast army of fans and many fans and musicians had talked about how good MegaDub were and that Raptor Captor also were a good band.

So it was somewhat tense in the heat of the Shed, with people wondering what would happen. The OBS is a judged competition, so its not about how many people a band can bring with them. The judges are all leading figures in the Leicester music scene and have the skills and knowledge to assess bands against the criteria given to them.

MegaDub's performance of dub, hip hop and reggae songs was energetic and certainly got the crowd moving, despite the Turkish bath atmosphere. Lex and Wez are the vocalists and carried the songs forward with a large amount of presence and momentum. Lex also sings in Loughborough band The Rugged Sound System. The crowd in front of the stage showed a lot of enthusiasm for the set and the dub/hip hop style added something different to a night otherwise dominated by indie bands.

The musical style changed when Raptor Captor took to the stage, to present a set of synthy dance songs. Although comparable in some ways to Autohype (members of which were watching them from the Crowd), RC's styling of indie pop is rockier and heavier and certainly their performance was vigorous and full gutsy momentum.

The Heroes are Leicestershire's top indie band - fresh back from playing at Glastonbury and basking in the adulation heaped on them by Radio 1 and other BBC DJs, they are on a roll and their performance at the Shed last night demonstrated well why they are at the top. Catchy, memorable songs that appeal to people of all ages, their lively stage presence ... it all adds up to a first class package and their cohort of young fans went wild with excitement from the first note. To be a top band you have to have a core of loyal fans that will follow you to pretty much all your gigs and all the familiar faces from the Heroes retinue were in evidence last night.

The Hordes did at one stage seem like serious contenders for the OBS crown, and they have done well in OBS and other competitions and have got their name out there this year. Their indie, alternative music is good, they play well but lack the memorable tunes and catchy riffs of the Heroes and the infectious rhythmic fizz of MegaDub. A popular band with a large following, they appeal to the people who know them but their set can sound a bit samey to the wider body of gig-goers and they will find it hard to win over new fans, especially outside Leicester. No one song stands out as a potential number 1 hit.

A great night of live music - all the bands were good, the crowd was amazing and the Shed was packed. Despite the withering heat and the rugby scrum in the main room, it was a night to remember. The show ended with a superbly good set from M48, a band which pretty much every other band in Leicester salutes (almost unheard of) and phalanxes of musicians and singers turned up to see how it all went. In these gloomy credit crunch days of drab gigs and crumbling venues, it was a bonus to be at an event where people were lining up outside to get in and in which all the bands were top class.

Last year OBS was won by Leicester band M48, who shared the Summer Sundae slot with THE CODES (r.i.p), in 2007 it was won by the Chairmen. But in 2006 the judges chose PROUD TO HAVE MET YOU over THE DISPLACEMENTS. Amongst local competitions, OBS commands respect because bands are judged rather than voted on by fans. It is not therefore simply a popularity contest. When some competitions are little more than ticket selling campaigns, OBS is widely regarded as a respectable exercise and the people behind it are key figures in the music scene whose main concern is for bands rather than tills.

Bands in order of appearance:

MegaDub | Raptor Captor | The Heroes | The Hordes | Guest band M48 (2008 winners)

The OBS is a competition, for bands from the East Midlands, that aims to showcase some of the best bands in the area.

Leicester's independent music event The Original Bands Showcase is a 10 week festival of local live music involving 35 bands. Now in its 5th season, once again this year's winner and runners up secures a slot at Summer Sundae Weekender Festival on the Musician Stage as well as cash prizes and other goodies.

It's well supported by local media coverage and has grown to be a recognised live music platform for unsigned bands. This year The Musician joins The Shed as host to The OBS gigs. These two most established dedicated live music venues have enjoyed a long standing working alliance.

Read our coverage of OBS Heats on the Gig Reviews page

Results so far (2009)

Heat 1 Friday 1st May @ The Musician - Damp Mattress

Heat 2 Saturday 9th May @ The Shed - The Hordes

Heat 3 Friday 15th May @ The Shed - Roxum

Heat 4 Friday 22nd May @ The Shed - The Heroes

Heat 5 Saturday 30th May @ The Musician - The Chris Warner Band

Heat  6 Friday 5th June @ The Musician - Megadub

Heat 7 Friday 12th June @ The Shed - The Essentials

First Semi Final - Saturday 20th June - The Heroes and Raptor Captor

GRAND FINAL - Saturday 4th July - Overall winners The Heroes. Runners-up were MegaDub.

The OBS Winners Chart

The dates for 2009 OBS are as follows

Heat 1 - Fri 1st May @ The Musician
Heat 2 - Sat 9th May @ The Shed - winner was The Hordes
Heat 3 - Fri 15th May @ The Shed
Heat 4 - Fri 22nd May @ The Shed
Heat 5 - Sat 30th May @ The Musician
Heat 6 - Fri 5th June @ The Musician
Heat 7 - Fri 12th June @ The Shed
Semi - Sat 20th June @ The Musician
Semi - Sat 27th June @ The Musician
Final - Sat 4th July @ The Shed - won by The Heroes

VJT Promotions on Myspace | VJT Promotions web site

We have put some OBS 2008 gig reports on our Leicester Gig Reviews page.