Spider Pig At The Battle Of The Bands

Can he swing from a web? Possibly - hell, anything was possible at the second heat of the Battle Of The Bands as they got underway on Sunday gone. A shuffle around of acts meant Bad Mothers Union made way for Atrax Mantis with Desecrate and Mantra joining them on the day.

As it happened, the BOTB also turned out to be the last time we’ll see Mantra in action - ever - with singer Cian O’Sullivan announcing the band are splitting, having decided just before taking to the stage. Sneaky publicity stunt or a farewell gig with a big crowd? Who knows? The have have said they’ll perform in the final should the make it though, of course that all depends on how the scoring goes across the whole competiton.

Fair play to Desecrate who came up from Piltown (South Kilkenny) for the day, bringing a bus load of friends and followers; Mantra gave it their all in the middle and Atrax Mantis brough up a loud and heavy rear, closing out the day to an enthusiastic crowd.

The third round of heats take place this coming Sunday afternoon at the usual time and we’ll (myself, Ross, Daw and Mickey) all be there again. Notice to all bands - don’t forget to hand in your setlist after your performance! A) I like collecting them and B) we want to get them for our own records / comparisons.

What it means though is that the photos from the second heat of Battle Of The Bands are now live in the KilkennyMusic.com gallery.