Telford band Arcade Parade snaps up spot in final

http://youtu.be/2cINXTjHuec

A Telford band featuring the youngest participants in Shropshire's Next Big Thing are the third group to win a spot in the competition's final.

Arcade Parade, whose members are 16 and 14, won their place after wowing judges in a heat at The Hive, in Shrewsbury, on Saturday.

They lined up alongside fellow Telford quartet The Making, who had an average age of 16, and Whitchurch singer/songwriter Albert Jones.

Arcade Parade will line up in the final, at Theatre Severn's Walker Theatre, on July 22, alongside Oswestry indie trio Portlights and Bridgnorth folk/roots combo Thompson Oldeman.

The fourth heat will take place at Ludlow Assembly Rooms on Sunday.

One band will be selected to go through to the final while a wild card place will be available during a public vote at shropshirestar.com

Arcade Parade dazzled judges on Saturday with innovative musicianship, reminiscent of stellar bands like Muse.

Singer and guitarist Ollie Scott and his bass-playing brother Elliot are both pupils at Burton Borough School, in Newport, while Dan Byrne, on drums, is a pupil at Charlton School, and Jacob Ferguson, on guitar and synthesisers, is at Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology.

Ollie said: "After seeing The Making, we were wondering how we'd follow them. The singer/songwriter, Albert Jones, was exceptional too, so we're really pleased."

By Andy Richardson