The second heat of Kingston University’s “Battle of the Bands” was played out today, with an overall winner to be decided by the end of the week.

Students gathered in the Coombehurst Studio, Kingston Hill Campus, for the lunchtime show, which featured performances from Pickpockets And Sky Rockets and Pages Walk.

Judges included Alex Evans and Phil Chambon, both music tutors at the University, and Pete Aves, a singer / songwriter and member of The High Llamas.

Praise for Electro-Acoustic duo Pickpockets was effusive. As Evans addressed the band with his verdict he told them they were, “a really interesting mix of styles. You did it with great aplomb. The song writing was fantastic.”

Though Chambon agreed, Aves was less complimentary, saying;

“I felt the material was good but all the songs were regularly the same tempo. I’d had enough of the drum machine, which was relentless. The lyrics began to lose importance after the eighth repetition.”

Band members Sam Ratcliffe and Pete Buffery accepted the comments without protest, but later admitted that when it came to assessing their chances of winning the competition they were still “in the dark”.

Five-man guitar outfit Pages Walk, meanwhile, attracted a similar mix of praise and criticism. Evans complimented their “sweaty gig vibe”, while Chambon mused that “your audience contact was good, and you were very tight, but the songs were, on the whole, average”.

Aves went further, telling the band that “if you’re writing these songs collectively that might be part of the problem.”

Singer Andi Karchauser had few complaints, saying in response that “it was all fair”.

Today’s bands will be judged against those from last December which included: Vesuvius Club, Ochrelane, Katie Malco, Buffalo Kite, Gentlemens Club and Tea.