Kingsbridge - the place to be. Well, maybe not, but I decided to overlook this fact as Katie, myself and two friends made our way down in order for the Kingsbridge Festival BOTB.

After arriving and setting ourselves up (i.e. sitting on a bench and pouncing on anyone who walked past, shoving flyers in their hands) we ate some candy floss, had a quick chat with 69 Reasons Why, and waited for the bands to begin.

After a brief introduction, the BOTB kicked off. First on stage were a young three piece punk band named Sheila. They were catchy and happy, your typical pop punk band; they were good, but nothing special. I enjoyed their set nevertheless; it was that type of summer music that puts a smile on your face - and with all the people milling around behind me, talking and laughing (and most importantly, drinking beer) the first band had achieved a good atmosphere.

Next came the band I personally thought should have been the winners of the BOTB. The Real Suckerpunch had a tight set, with a great ska/punk vibe, and a singer reminding me somewhat of the likes of Gwen Stefani and Andrea Kenny from Two Day Rule - unusual in a male, but very impressive. Their stage presence could have been a little stronger, but on the whole I thought this band were great, and deserved, in my opinion, first prize.

However, the winners of this year's BOTB were four piece punk band Home By Six. To be honest, although they were a good enough band, I didn't really think they deserved to win - they didn't bowl me over at all, and in fact I thought, as far as the bands had gone so far, they weren't anything amazing. Nevertheless, they won, and took home with them a cheque for £50. Jammy bastards.

After a bit of a stage change, 69 Reasons Why graced us with their presence. I was very impressed with this band - not at all surprised they were the winners of last year's BOTB. I'd never seen them before, but had continually heard good things, so it was about time I got myself acquainted I suppose. They played roughly an hour long set, which was probably a bit too long, since at the beginning both guitarist and bassist were jumping around like crazy fools but then seemed to run out of energy. The singer however - he had one of those stage presences were you kind of fell in love with him (I'm hoping not to get abuse from girlfriends/wives/mothers now...). But he had such a good voice, with a great deal of conviction, as if he really believed in what he was singing, and gave a great show on the guitar as well. In fact, I could go through the whole band, and probably not insult their talent at all - in danger of repeating myself...they all had talent! And not even a little bit of talent....a lot of talent! And they even got the crowd moving - the only band of the night who had managed to get the lazy arses moving.

I really enjoyed the evening: the weather was nice; the atmosphere was great; and the music was on the whole fantastic. Although it's not quite what I'm expecting to happen there, it really started to give me excited jingles in my stomach about Plymouth Festival - roll on July!

Written by Luce