by Caroline BarrettI should imagine there were one or two bleary-eyed sixth-formers staggering into Huntington School today.

But surely one late night out a week is all right; after all, they had spent the evening watching two of the school's rival bands battle it out in - rather aptly - the fourth heat of the Evening Press/Fibbers Battle of the Bands competition.

First up for the school were Baggy Blue Sky, who showed no sign of nerves, but then this was their seventh appearance on the Fibbers stage.

Despite citing The Stone Roses, Shed Seven and Ocean Colour Scene as their mentors, there was little sign of these influences in Baggy's music.

Simon, Daniel, Andrew, Jon and Richard simply played what can only be described as noise, noise, oh, and a bit more noise - a shame because the potential was there for a lot more.

Although I'm sure they had the support of their school chums, the crowd remained unstirred and each song was acknowledged by a conservative clap ... or should I say a faint tap?

Next came on Loophole, not part of the school scrap. This new combo - they have played only a few times - drew inspiration from Gordon Lightfoot, Violent Femmes and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. These diverse influences did wonders for the crowd, who confirmed they were still alive with a slight shake of the head.

However it wasn't long before the tight set-up of Jimmy, Dave and Paul got the audience in full swing. I even spotted a couple of spectators jumping up and down.

And finally it was back to the school feud as Colloquial took the stage - an obvious favourite with the crowd, who cheered their arrival extremely loudly.

Kicking off with a cover of Pinball Wizard, the band set off for a well-received half-hour. Strong vocals from lead singer Ian were the focal point. At the end of the evening it was A-stars all round for Colloquial who go into the semi-finals.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.