Wake up Southport, the Slick Cupid Boys are back in town

It was yet another memorable night of excellent live music at Friday's heat four of the Southport Battle of the Bands, writes Martin Hovden.

And it was local pop punk band Slick Cupid who stole the show with a 30-minute set of some of the most creative, exciting and very catchy songs I've heard and they went straight through to the semi-finals.

These guys are a class act. They owned the stage in the Banff from the very start, pumping out a sound which had their fans dancing (in some cases moshing) in front of the barrier.

Lead singer Johnny Thrash and band mates Ged Teevan, Lee Linaker and Danny Green have been together for more than 10 years and their experience really showed. They opened with a non-stop 12-minute medley of fast-paced songs which didn't give the audience time to come up for air, but everyone loved it. I was enjoying it so much I didn't want them to stop but all good things have to come to an end...and they'll be back.

I was delighted to meet my fellow guest judge Hayley Jones, well-known and much respected on our local music scene. And we both agreed Slick Cupid were the standout band and deserved to win a place in the semis.

As it turned out, they won the audience vote, so we put through our second choice The Coneheads. I'm really delighted for the lads. They appeared as guest stars when a band dropped out a few weeks ago but they were disappointed they could not enter the contest as they are just 17.

However, after Covid claimed another band from Friday's line-up, organisers Dave Aston, Hayden Birch and Martin White were able to gain special permission for the guys to enter the competition proper.

And what a revelation. They were much, much better and more confident on stage than when I saw them two weeks ago. They delivered an exciting selection of original and cover songs. And lead singer Luke Hart has a really good spiky and quick sense of humour as demonstrated when he was told they had time for just one more song. Aware of the band's limited list of songs in their repertoire, he looked up to the sky and said “Thank you, God.” I'm looking forward to seeing them in the semis.

Warrington rock band Copperworm came on after Slick Cupid and held their own with a set of original, mellow songs, including one which had a touch of the David Lynch TV series Twin Peaks theme which I really enjoyed. As with all bands, I had a chat with the guys from Copperworm before the show started. They revealed they were really excited to be playing in the contest and they already have gigs confirmed for later in the year. I wish them well.

Guest star for the evening was contest host Dave Aston. He too was a revelation. I first meet Dave many years ago when he was in a hard core punk band called Fight Benjamin. A night – organised by Hayden Birch, by the way – I will never forget. Over the years, Dave's choice of music as far as his solo career is concerned has mellowed. He gave us a wonderful selection of songs from his latest excellent CD called Blindfold and I urge you to seek it out.

My video of the night features live performances and band interviews and will be released Sunday/Monday.

Meanwhile, don't miss the first of the semi-finals next Friday 5 August in the Banff, West Street.