With this being the inaugural Corn Exchange event. The ‘college factor’ has yet to come into play. Hertford’s college-age kids sadly don’t seem to regularly attend the Corn Exchange. Hopefully, future Battle of the Bands competitions will entice them in. Don’t get me wrong, it is great to see venues full with young people listening to live music and even the covers bands who reached the Horn’s final demonstrated they learned a lot from the experience, by turning up to the final with a few of their own compositions. But at least for one year, it allowed us to see a more authentic lineup and the Corn Exchange was packed out with friends and families of three bands. We were also lucky enough to see a headline set from the well deserved winners of the Horn’s Battle of the Bands, Safehouse. (who were head and shoulders above the over bands in the final)

Opening the evening were The Accents. A two piece from Hemel Hempstead with a ‘comfortable’ rock folk sound. Mike, the singer, has a good voice and Tommy keeps everything moving along on drums. A strong opening to the evening.

Deadbeat Bracket are one of my favourite local bands. A rock band hailing from Stevenage. They recently released a good debut album, ‘Chaos Theory’. The band have some good songs and a great stage presence. They again impressed.

The final band, another favourite, The Skive, are a stripped down punk band – all energy, youthful optimism and swagger, as they take a swipe at many of the things that are wrong at the moment.

It was great to see such a good final with differing styles. You could drop The Accents in any pub in the country and they would entertain anyone. Deadbeat Brackets and The Skive both have the potential to do well with young audiences if they play the right London shows and get some decent support slots.

Unlike earlier rounds, the final is judged by a handful of people in the audience, rather than leaving it to being a popularity contest. Tonight, any of these bands would be a deserving winner. Each has potential and offers something different. Hopefully, they all have found this to be a positive learning experience.

To close the evening, while the judges deliberated, Safehouse showed why they won the Horn’s Battle of the Band, closing off a great evening of live music.

The winner, announced by Juicebox’s Luke Hinton, and I suspect by a very fine margin, was The Skive. I am chuffed for them. I remember seeing an early gig just after their bassist left. They were great that night and I didn’t think they needed a new one. But in Joe, they found somebody who brings his own energy and showmanship and has only made them grow stronger. Well done guys.

Jon McClure was one of those artists who put time into supporting their fans during lockdown, even playing on Christmas Day for those who couldn’t spend Christmas with family. I attended a few of his events. Jon and his wife and keyboard player in the band, Laura, seemed to be two of those genuine people who are happy to give up their time for others.

Attending both evenings, was my attempt at saying thank you. It helps that Jon is a larger-than-life presence on stage, so I knew both nights would be fun.

Tonight, playing solos. Songs from the new album sounded really good live, with Heatwave in the North clearly on its way to becoming a fan favourite. Jon finished the evening off by playing his encore in the street (to some complaints