Two more excellent bands battle their way through to semi-finals in Southport

This is a live music contest that keeps on giving, writes Martin Hovden.

Heat three of the resort's Battle of the Bands competition proved yet again how many talented and hugely entertaining bands we have here in Southport and Merseyside.

It was a privilege to be in the Banff club in West Street on Friday night as three bands fought it out to grab a place in the next round.

And Banff manager Niall is so pleased with the way the contest is going, he's asked organisers Dave Aston, Hayden Birch and Martin White to stage live music nights every first and third Friday in the club, starting in September. A well deserved reflection of the excellent and professional way the lads are running the competition.

This heat should, like the others, have had four bands compete, but one pulled out at the last minute.

However, step forward young Southport trio Coneheads who offered to open the show at the last minute and delivered a confident mixture of pop rock with a touch of “DIY punk”. Under the age of 18 they were too young to enter the contest proper but I'm sure we're going to see a lot more of them in the future and I wish them well.

Two places were available in the semis and going through on the audience vote (quite rightly in my view) were Southport alternative punk band Twilight Avenue. They were one man down due to illness, but what a powerhouse of talented musicians the duo proved to be. And Myles and George have a very warm and friendly presence on stage and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them in the next round.

As guest judge, I had the difficult job of picking another band to go through. It's never easy but I decided to go by my gut instinct and the band I chose were Liverpool psychedelic indie rockers Soul Captain. I was just knocked out by these guys and at one stage I smiled to myself during their 30-minute set as I realised this is why I love watching live music – we were being royally entertained by a good, solid, tight band who knew exactly what they were doing throughout, much to the delight of the appreciative audience.

Preston grunge band Incandescent took no prisoners - no one sleeps when they're on stage – and although I'm not a huge fan of that particular genre of music I couldn't fault their musicianship, energy and their in-you-face, kick in the stomach performance. And they're also a great bunch of lads who told me before they went on that they had really been looking to taking part, win or lose. That's exactly the positive attitude to have.

I hope my video of the night captures some of the energy and excitement of the night and I'll be releasing that on Monday.

Heat four is not next Friday due to other commitments, so it will be a week on Friday, 29 July. Don't miss it.