This is the fourth in the recent series of Essex County Battle of the Bands. Following on from last year’s highly successful finals in the grounds of Colchester Castle, the action moves this year to the Towngate Theatre in Basildon. There are five bands in the final from heats in Brentwood, Chelmsford, Maldon, Rochford and a Great Eastern competition. Beneath the Fallen is a relatively new band, but building a solid reputation for delivering a crisp alternative sound with sharp precision. Hi Jinx is a hard-driven powerhouse of a band, with lots of gigging under their belts and a strong track record on the local music scene. The Underdogs is an indie band who play an original brand of soaring, epic pop, a unique dark and moody sound. Confetti Pearls play straight down rock with a razor-sharp edge and influences ranging from Queen to the Kings of Leon. Inertia, winners of the Great Eastern heats, is an energetic indie band in the mould of Feeder.

EDDIE and the HOT RODS
In 1975 four Essex teenage kids were signed to Island Records , they called themselves Eddie and the Hot Rods and they went on to tour the world and produce four top forty hits 'Live at the Marquee, Quit this town, I might be lying, Teenage Depression and one top ten hit 'Do anything you wanna do'. They recorded two singles with MC5 singer Rob Tyner as guest vocalist, they toured America alongside The Ramones, Talking Heads, and Tom Petty. In 1978 they headlined the Reading Rock Festival and have filled most of the major UK and European venues. They strongly influenced bands such as The Sex Pistols, The Undertones, and The 101ers (who went on to be The Clash) and played a major part in the birth of Punk Rock.
In 2000 lead singer Barrie Masters was asked to take part in a major UK tour so he put together a reconditioned fleet of Hotrods and off they roared, the response was so good that the band have been in constant demand since then.
As 2004 approached the band decided to record a new album entitled 'Better Late Than Never’, which managed to recapture the raw energy of the bands live performances and help raise interest with record companies. In June of that year the band signed a deal with French record label Bad Reputation who would represent them first and foremost in France and in October 2004 'Better Late Than Never' was released with a short tour to promote it. The tour was a great success with major magazines giving rave reviews. Now they return to Essex, to the Towngate Theatre, Basildon, for this special celebration of Essex music.
So what will 2005 bring? Well tours all over Europe are planned, after many many emails from fans in the USA the band have decided it's time to go back so a tour of the US is planned. A deal with Voiceprint Records will help secure distribution in the UK and other countries, and many more top performances that will leave the audience shouting for more.

SELECTER ACOUSTIC
Selecter Acoustic came to being in 1998 and is of course an offshoot of the legendary two tone band the Selecter, featuring singer/songwriter Pauline Black and songwriter/producer Nick Welsh. The duo have released two CD's, the debut Unplugged For The Rude Boy Generation & Requiem For A Black Soul. The show will feature all The Selecter hits, tracks from the new CD's, and stories that chart the beginnings of Ska, Reggae through Two Tone to the present day. Pauline Black has been the singer in The Selecter since its formation in 1979 when the band spearheaded the Two Tone movement alongside The Specials releasing the chart hits The Selecter, Three Minute Hero, The Whisper, Missing Words and On My Radio & two albums Too Much Pressure & Celebrate The Bullet. The Selecter were also featured in the cult film Dance Craze. The band split in 1982, Pauline carved out a career in TV and theatre appearing in dramas like The Vice, The Bill, Hearts and Minds and 2000 Acres of Sky. She won the 1991 Time Out award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the play All or Nothing At All and starred opposite Christopher Lee in the schlock horror film The Funny Man. She reformed The Selecter in 1991 and has released several new albums and has toured all over the world.
Nick Welsh is probably best known for being the bassist in The Selecter and formerly Bad Manners but he has worked with some of the biggest names in Ska and Reggae, Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Rico Rodriguez, Dave Barker & most recently Lee "Scratch" Perry with whom he received a Grammy Award Certificate for his work on the CD Jamaican ET which won The Best Reggae Category in 2002. Nick also writes music for TV which has been used world-wide on shows as diverse as WWE (world wrestling entertainment), The Osbornes and even adverts for Ariel soap powder!

CURLY CIRCUS
Curly Circus come from the Braintree/Witham area and were winners of the 2003 Essex County Battle of the Bands, beating of strong opposition from a clutch of other bands at the finals in the splendid grounds of Colchester Castle. Their eclectic style, which fuses funk and driving rock, with a tinge of experimental electronics, is quite unique, reminding you sometimes of Frank Zappa or sometimes of Steely Dan or as sometimes up-funked and hard-driven. They already have five albums behind them and will soon be in the studio recording another one, together with a promo video. Lots more on their own website: http://www.curlycircus.com/news.htm