Four bands took to the stage in The Zoo this past Sunday (August 6th) with Chemical Addiction, Southern Discomfort, The Prix and Blue Meryl all making an appearance on the day as the fifth Battle Of The Bands under Hype Entertainment kicked off.

With proceedings starting shortly after 4:30pm, Chemical Addiction were first to take the stage blasting out a 7-track setlist of….

• Underground
• Disbehave
• Shadow Man
• Honey Bucket (Melvins cover)
• Friends Are Enemies
• Stay Away
• 14.85

Fresh from their appearance with Kerbdog in Fibbers on Friday night, the lads put on a good showing for the fans with singer Danny leaving the stage for the final song to jump around with everyone else.

Second up were Southern Discomfort, hailing from Thomastown, who brought their Nirvana-esque sound with a nice original twist to the stage. A solid performance from the three-piece whose setlist included

• Something Borrowed
• Long Time
• Shadows
• Dark Light
• Waiting Alone

Third to the stage were The Prix, kicking off their set at around a quarter to six. No shortage of fans for their first ever public appearance and no shortage of energy from the fans either as the moshing and crowdsurfing kicked off. Solid debut performance and nice to watch these guys develop over the coming months as they’ve got a good original sound going though some subtle hints of The Sex Pistols and The Ramones sneaking through their set. Their own setlist included

• Nerd Song
• Yellow Lights
• Fav. Band
• Hey
• Crash In The USA
• Play On
• Walking
• Motherfucker From Hell

Last on the bill were Blue Meryl, taking the stage around 6:25. With warnings going around that it “could get violent” the lads delivered a highly energetic set, great crowd reaction and performance overall for their seven track set which included

• Frozen Eyes
• Prediction Addiction
• New Song
• Cool It Down
• Thistle
• No Way Out
• Take Me Away

Sure enough, the moshing ensued, the crowdsurfing got going, the odd sight of a drink flying against the ceiling but all in good sport as fans of the band lapped up their performance, some even getting up on stage to join them.

Overall a great start to the competition with four great bands. Next week kicks off at the same time and if the crowd for the first heat is anything to go by it should be great. Photos of the first heat to follow shortly.