IT’S CHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSS!

This NewBlood was a special Christmas NewBlood with a fancy dress contest and all sorts of other Christmas-y fun. The event NewBlood is a fortnightly on Thursday for 14-17 year olds at a cost of £3. On the night refreshments can be bought alongside some merchandise. NewBlood offers a chance for local bands to perform in front of the young critics to promote themselves. This night’s live music came from This Signals, Board In Suburbia and a “new” band Above Us The Waves.

First up was The Signals an Alternative Rock band, who are actually based in Darlington.

Their name basically came from a list of names and this one was the one that they preferred out of all.

The band consists of:

Ben- Bass

Paul- Lead guitar and Backing vocals

Dillon- Lead vocals and Rhythm guitar

Ellis- Drums

The Signals formed in March 2009 as a group of friends.

Whilst on stage the crowd danced around and cheered as the band played along and occasionally talking to them. They opened with “The Great Escape” and closed with “Last Train Home”. During the set they also played “It Hurts”, “Omen”, “I Know” and a few more.

The band are in the process of finding a full time singer to front the band and they also want increase their fan base.

Unfortunately there is no website or way of getting in touch with the band just yet, however they are in the process of one.

Second on tonight was Board In Suburbia, from Middlesbrough. The members are:

Aaron- Bassist

Glen- Rhythm guitar

Danny- Guitar/Vocals

Andy- Drummer

They formed together around 14 months ago and got their name a year ago after living in Leeds and not particularly liking it and wanting to live in Suburbia instead, so decided that “Board In Suburbia” was a better name.

The genre is Punk/Metal with a smidge of rap in places and they are all influenced by different artists. These artists are the likes of Guns & Roses, Metallica, Strongout, Sum 41 and many more.

On stage the crowd were impressed u songs such as “Get Out Of The Way”, “Taxi”, Round and Round”, “Outta Here” plus many more before they finished with “Hateface”.

In the future the band plans to go on tour and play plenty more gigs, so keep an eye out at:

www.myspace.com/boardinsuburbia

Headlining the night was the “new” band known as “Above Us The Waves”, from Darlington, with:

James- Vocals

Sam- Guitar

Josh- Bass

Jonsie- Drums

Above Us The Waves technically formed tonight as it was their first gig as this set up, however they really started fully in June 2005 as they put it “James had no friends and Sam could play guitar” however it was really because Sam had wrote some music on the guitar and couldn’t think of any lyrics, which is where James came in.

The band preformed previously at NewBlood and since then they have created a new name, new genre and created many new song. The reason for the drastic change is basically because the ban started when they were much younger and their music taste has changed so much since then and it was time for something new they thought. Above Us The Waves has also played for over 500 and wrote and recorded new songs. They also played a charity gig in aid of a young girl, Tilly Lockey, who lost her hands to meningitis.

On stage the crowd jumped around and cheered following the shout outs of the band to do things such as “raise your hands”. They opened with “I Spy Jealousy” and closed with “Catch Me If You Can”. During the set they played a mixture of originals, such as “House Of The Rising Sun”, “Hold Your Fine” and many more, and one Basshunter cover of “All I Ever Wanted”. They even played a song that was so new it has yet to be named.

In the future they are planning to do another tour and create a new EP and travel all over England, in attempt to conquer it and I think they will be successful.

For more information go to:

www.myspace.com/aboveusthewavesuk

Or try:

www.myspace.com/2manyunits

(Above Us The Waves is secretly the old “2ManyUnits”)

By Emily O’Hara