Arcade Parade are Shropshire's Next Big Thing

The winners of Shropshire's Next Big Thing are looking forward to the biggest gig of their lives after being selected to play before up to 10,000 fans at Shrewsbury Fields Forever.

Arcade Parade described their victory in last night's final at Shrewsbury's Walker Theatre as being beyond their wildest dreams.

They beat a line-up of older and more experienced musicians to secure top prize.

• See more pictures in our gallery to your right

The Wellington and Newport band – aged between 14 and 16 – progressed from one of four heats that were held throughout June and July at venues across the county.

They lined up last night in front of an audience of 300 fans along with fellow finalists Thin Vision, from Bishop's Castle; Thomson Oldeman, from Bridgnorth and Telford; The Innocent, from Oswestry; and Portlights, from Oswestry and Shrewsbury.

Winning singer Ollie Scott said: "It's unbelievable. We've been playing some really good venues across the region, like the Slade Rooms, at Wolverhampton; and the O2 Academy, in Birmingham, so we've been really busy.

"Playing the Walker Theatre in front of 300 people was an amazing experience in its own right, but to win it is mind-blowing.

"We entered for fun, but when we took to the stage everything just clicked and we played as well as we could. It was a great gig."

http://youtu.be/5oCXM3mn0IA

The band will now feature in their first professional video, which will be shot by competition sponsor Furrows.

They will also receive a professional photo shoot from the Shropshire Star.

They progressed to the final after winning their heat, which was staged at The Hive, in Shrewsbury. There were also heats at The Haygate, in Wellington; the Assembly Rooms, in Ludlow; and The Ironworks, in Oswestry.

Last night's final started with a set from Bishop's Castle ska quartet Thin Vision, who had already played on Saturday at the town's Party In The Park before lining up yesterday afternoon at Sheep Music Festival.

The four-piece band, led by singer Ollie Farr, impressed the judging panel with their up-beat ska anthems before making way for Bridgnorth/Telford sextet Thomson Oldeman, who played a rollicking set of acoustic and roots songs that had the crowd roaring its approval.

Thomson Oldeman won warm applause for self-penned songs like Notions, as well as up-beat covers of artists such as Adele and Johnny Cash.

Former Shropshire Star Battle of the Bands winner Adam Howes took to the stage with his new band, The Innocent, alongside fellow vocalist Kate Mason and a three-piece rhythm section for an impressive set of passionate self-penned songs to mark the final's halfway point.

Arcade Parade then took to the stage to wild applause from their fans, who gathered at the front of the stage to cheer them on and wowed everyone with self-penned tunes and brilliant musicianship. Heat One winners Portlights, a trio from Shrewsbury, Oswestry and North Wales with more than 10,000 Twitter followers, were the final band on stage.

Their incendiary set rounded the night off in stunning fashion caused much soul-searching among judges, who deliberated long and hard before choosing their winner.

The event was sponsored by Shrewsbury-based Soundscape Studios, who provided PA equipment free of charge, and Furrows.

All five bands will feature at BBC Radio Shropshire Introducing, each Friday, from 7pm to 9pm on BBC Radio Shropshire, with the highlights of Arcade Parade's set being broadcast this week.

BBC Radio Shropshire Introducing hosts Josh Withey and Rob Fanner, who were among the judges, said it had been tough to choose a winner.

Rob said: "It could have gone a number of ways. The only criteria that we could apply was 'which band played the best on the night'. Arcade Parade were scintillating, they were awesome and they left us with no choice but to crown them winners. It was a great night for local music."

The judging panel was completed by Shrewsbury Fields Forever organiser Dene Edwards, Craig Wellingston, lead singer of top indie band Sunshine Underground and Shropshire Star editor Keith Harrison, who said:?"It was a great night and everyone was blown away by the high quality of the bands – they were all amazing.

"It was a tough decision but in the end we felt Arcade Parade will definitely be the next big thing to come out of Shropshire and we look forward to following their success."

The five bands who featured in the final of Shropshire's Next Big Thing can all be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Facebook followers can listen to music from each band:

• Arcade Parade

• Portlights

• Thomson Oldeman

• The Innocent

• Thin Vision

All bands can also be followed on Twitter.

Most of the bands also have links for Reverb Nation or Soundcloud: visit www.reverbnation.com or www.soundcloud.com and then use the search bar to find your favourite.

Log on tomorrow for video highlights of last night's final, courtesy of competition sponsor Furrows.