The official video of the Heroes of She performing at the 02 is now up on the Muzu TV website- here’s the link- http://www.muzu.tv/liveandunsigned/heroes-of-she-heroes-of_she_o2_1-music-video/712137
Muzu TV have also compiled a chart of the best 5 acts in the Live and Unsigned Final- and the Heroes of She come in at No 3! This is what Muzu have to say:
“We feel that these bands have the chance to go the distance- so check them out!”
The video is good, but it doesn’t begin to capture the excitement, the energy and the amazing sound of the live performance. There’s only one thing for it- they’ll have to get another gig there.

Muzu TV have produced an extraordinarily good video of the Heroes of She performing Bohemian Like You and Out of My Way, the performance which got them through to the final of the “Live and Unsigned” competition at the 02 Arena on July 10th.  In fact Muzu TV think so highly of the Heroes’ performance that they’ve given the video pride of place on their blog. Here’s the link-
http://www.muzu.tv/blog/2010/05/19/live-and-unsigned-5-top-alternative-bands-from-the-competition/

Things are different now. Change is in the air.
It wasn’t a foregone conclusion; in fact I was mentally prepared for defeat. True, The Heroes of She had put on an amazing performance, probably their best ever. True, their army of supporters, seated just below the judges, were particularly rampant in their enthusiam. True, the rest of the packed crowd loved them as well. But there were other brilliant acts, of widely differing genres, from hip-hop to heavy rock and who was to know what were the personal tastes of the judges.
These were the area finals of the “Live and Unsigned” competition. The winners will represent the North of England in the national final at the 02 stadium on July …The 02 stadium! The very idea was unreal.
Three bands got through. The Heroes of She were the second act to be named as winners. The applause was deafening. Well done guys. You really deserve it.

http://www.muzu.tv/liveandunsigned/heroes-of-she-my-sharona-burning-in-flames-music-video/615122?country=gb

This is a link to a professional recording of the Heroes of She’s epic performance at the finals of the Live and Unsigned competition.  My God, they are brilliant.  This video is such a contrast to the Flip video which I took on the night, which had a lot of atmosphere but absolutely no sound quality (see my posting of
March 7th).
Now the band are busy rehearsing their act for the Regional Finals, at the Willow Club in Manchester on May 9th.  Could they possibly improve on their ‘My Sharona/Burning In Flames’ performance?  The word on the streets is Yes.  In which case they are a certainty for the prize of a gig at the 02 stadium.  I can’t wait.

This was the Heroes of She’s most important gig since the final of BT’s ‘Battle of the Bands’ at the Post Office Tower. The venue – the Willow Club in Manchester; The event– the regional final of the ‘Live and Unsigned’ competition; The crowd- 500 very enthusiastic fans; The prize- a chance to play at the O2 stadium. 19 finalists took part and each had to play a 3 and half minute set comprising of part cover/part original competition. The result was decided by a panel of 5 music industry judges who took into account the votes and the enthusiasm of the audience. The Heroes of She played a blinding set starting with ‘My Sharona’ followed by a cut down version of their second single, ‘Delusional’. It was trilling to hear them singled out for praise by two of the judges. Then came the finale when the winners were announced, in no particular order. There was an agonising wait as the names of the winning bands were read out. Finally, at the last gasp, the compare read out the name of the Heroes of She to enormous cheering and to my enormous relief.

As I was trying to catch the barman’s eye at the Penny Bank in Lancaster I overheard someone saying “Why is this place so packed tonight?” “There’s a band on”, came the reply “They’ve got a massive following”. And it was a massive night for the Heroes of She, who played two sets over nearly two hours, with no fewer than six songs from their forthcoming second album including two played in public for the first time- Don’t Talk To Me and Not Wrong. This video features Don’t Talk To Me and you’ll see that it’s a change of style for the band, but one of the most original, innovative songs they’ve written. I love it and can’t wait to hear a recorded version.

At the Penny Bank in Lancaster I managed to capture a Flip video of the second public performance of We Don’t Love You. The tune is irresistible. In fact I’ve had it on my brain for the last couple of days. The style, pace and tempo are just right for the Hammond /Drums combination of James Mackie and John Elles. It’s my guess that this will be the first single release from their second album. On the other hand I’ve only heard half of the songs for the new album. Let’s just say- It’s looking good.

When the Heroes of She agreed to headline at a fundraising event for the earthquake victims of Haiti they were told that they would be following “The Bishop”. A spin-off from Reverend and the Makers perhaps?. Nothing so mundane. This was a real bishop, the Bishop of Haiti, who was there to lay bare a few uncomfortable facts about the tragic events in Haiti. He did a good job as more than £1,000 was raised on the night.
As for the Heroes- they were storming, playing a full set for more than an hour- in fact one of the best gigs they have done. The Heroes have been lying low for a while, writing and rehearsing songs for their second album; tonight they played two of the new songs in public for the first time. The first, “We Don’t Love You” is instantly catchy, obvious single material. The second, Diabolique, sung partly in French, is one of the cleverest, most inventive songs they have written. Here it is, as captured on my flip video. Thank you guys for your generous words in the introduction.

It’s an uncomfortable truth that almost no new British bands made it big in 2009. The BBC and in particular Radio 1 have received a lot of stick for not giving airplay to new acts. Radio 1 has a playlist of 50 records each week which is dominated by the big three labels, which doesn’t give small outfits such as Northern Music and the Heroes of She a fair chance.
We are fighting back and we are lobbying hard to get a fairer share of the airtime. Radio 1, to give them their due, have been listening, which is why I’m down at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, at the invitation George Ergatoudis (see posting on November 13th) the Head of Music at Radio 1 who is giving a presentation to explain just what Radio 1 is doing to help the independent sector. George speaks from the heart, he loves music, he quite clearly isn’t intimidated by the power of the “big three” and here gives us independents lots of insights into how we can get onto the inside track. My thanks to the Association of Independent Music, who organised the evening. I made a “Flip” video of the entire presentation and as this short extract shows there’s no doubt that George and his team are doing their best to redress the balance.