The long-awaited finals for the Battle for Iron Maiden saw Rumours Lounge in Weltevreden Park a hive of activity till the early hours of the morning.
Five independent judges, including Simon Foulds of Emerging Sounds and radio personality, Barney Simon, had the tough decision of choosing one out of six bands to win the chance to open for Iron Maiden on their Book of Souls Tour, at the Carnival City performance.
Foulds, on what he was looking for in the winning band, said, “The band needs to grab the audience by the jugular, rip them up and say we have arrived.”
The six bands: New Born Fire, De Wallen, Jasper Dan, Deadline, Man as Machine and Slashdogs performed four original songs and one Iron Maiden cover on 7 May. Fist pumping, head banging and loud singing ruled the floor in front of the main stage.
Finally, in the early hours of the morning, after a power outage, Jasper Dan was announced the winners. Jamie Hendry, lead singer of Jasper Dan, said, “In a nutshell we are absolutely blown away firstly by the support we have received by all the people who have followed us and now too by the judges of the competition who have entrusted us with this honour.”
“When we entered the competition some months ago we didn’t imagine that we would even get to the semi-finals let alone us now preparing to open for one of the greatest bands of our lifetime. It really is a huge honour. We have thoroughly enjoyed the journey that has been the Battle for Iron Maiden. The pressure has been immense as all the bands have displayed such a high level of musicianship. A big thank you must be said to the organizers and Big Concerts for giving up-and-coming South African music this opportunity. We treat it with a huge amount of respect,” Hendry added.
Details: Rumours Lounge, rumourspub@polka.co.za or 079 825 7995.
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