MediaTel Group Vamps It Up For Battle Of The Bands
Last Thursday night, at the illustrious Hippodrome nightclub in London’s Leicester Square, MediaTel joined forces with Virtue TV to enter the NABS/Virgin Radio Battle Of The Bands competition.
Established funk-rock band, Trash Alley, were joined by their newest recruits, the Alley Cats. It was all very rock-and-roll with a dressing room overlooking Soho’s side streets complete with crates of Stella and a broken shower. The backing singers took the opportunity to contemplate that often asked question: How much Vodka can you drink before you look plastered and/or fall over?
The group overcame creative differences to go for a Hives-esque black shirt-white tie combo. Despite an earlier-purchase at that well known fashion Mecca, the M4 service station, of black and orange flaming shirts, which conjured up images of darts players and Slough. The look went down well with the ladies. Bass player, Alex Stephenson, said: “The bass player is a god. Source: every chick there.”
Meanwhile, the girls, expertly styled by Helen Townrow from Guardian Unlimited, fretted over the see-through nature of their tops and went shopping for vests. All fears were laid to rest by the arrival of the first band, Vegas, with the lead singer proving less really is more in a sparkly pink swimming costume and feathers, which went down well with the MediaTel boys.
Primary and Redfoot belted out a mixture of songs as Trash Alley prepared themselves for their big moment. For the Alley Cats the words ‘rabbits and headlights’ sprang to mind as we went through our complex dad-style side to side/clapping dance routines. Lead singer, Simon, belted out the hits with style and before we knew it, it was all over. Elvis classic “A Little Less Conversation” proved a crowd pleaser, with the now, rather worse for wear MediaTel, crowd.
The big moment over, we watched the last band, Shafted, from Bates UK, impress the crowd with funky tunes and hot-pant clad go-go dancers. Their noisy crowd of supporters sent the clap-o-meter upwards and they gained first place, followed by Vegas (TBWA/GGT Direct) in second. Trash Alley came in a respectable third, maintaining their position from last year (see MediaTel Band Goes Into Battle). Perhaps next year the boys should wear hotpants…
To view the Trash Alley Battle Of The Bands 2002 gallery click here.