The Original Rock Quest 2007 Grand Final - The Merrie England, Blackpool North Pier

Blackpool line-up The Sound of Superstring proved they had the rock factor in a grand final of The Gazette’s annual search for the area’s best band. With a top prize of £1,500 at stake and four runner cheques of £200 it was never going to be easy to pick a winner and the five judges found themselves split three ways at the end of the night – with only 15 points out of a possible 1,250 finally separating the top two bands. Eventually it was the sheer performance value of The Sound of Superstring which won them the title. Frontman Oz has a wealth of experience, charisma to spare, an overload of eccentricity and a stage presence which makes you wonder why he’s still doing the rounds of Blackpool venues.

But he’s given the freedom to command the band’s loyal and loud following because of the quality of musicianship behind him – with a Christmas song thrown in as a bonus, an audience which knew the anthemic choruses an even the occasional dancing doorman it was always looking a likely victory. Granted landing the last slot of the evening didn’t do them any harm – though having watched four fine finalists each win their share of the crowd could have posed a confidence problem. If the final’s youngest contestants, The Night Life Crisis, hadn’t had to open the proceedings who knows what might have happened?

Certainly they’ve got the potential to be future winners – their confidence increases with every appearance, they radiate enjoyment and with vocals shared between the cute 17 year old James Hernen and the ever smiling 19 year old bassist Ed Lewis there’s plenty of variety in their lyrically mature and musically infectious material. Wigan’s hard rocking Helvelyn 2 had all sorts of reasons to believe the night could be theirs for the taking. Despite an average age of just 18 they look and sound like they’ve been touring for years. Their image is classic rock and frontman Antony Ellis will be a star one day if his presumably sizeable tonsils don’t give out first. A week which started with Led Zeppelin’s reunion ended with what could develop into their heir (and hair ) apparents justifying the faith their ever growing Blackpool fan base has in them. If there’d been a Guitar Star prize going Stefan Finney would have claimed it – with drummer James Eccles-Churton and bassist David Isherwood not far behind in the glory takes.

Next up were The Corsairs – whose supporters were determined to show why the highest scoring runner band from the heats more than deserved to be in the final. Far more confident and together than in their heat two appearance they revealed a solid sound with strong lead vocals, some excellent original material (particularly Amsterdam and Back and Forth) and a first rate stage presence.

Kaseno’s Pete Searle is another vocalist who probably woke up with a sore throat after his performance. A week down the line since their heat four victory they came across almost like a new band – full of confidence, working the audience well and using guitarist Carl Taylor’s skills to the max. From the opening Happiness to the crowd pleasing finale Dreams Are Made Of, this was a set to be proud of. The Original Rock Quest 2007 was sponsored by Smirnoff and organized by The Gazette in conjunction with the Merrie England. We would like to thank all the bands, the audiences and everyone else concerned for another successful event.