Burscough pop punkers Some Time Today impressed the audience so much they sent them through to the grand final of the Southport Battle of the Bands, while Liverpool indie rockers Lazy Sundaze were also guaranteed a place thanks to the judges' vote, writes Martin Hovden.

The Banff club in West Street was packed on Friday night for the second semi-final of this contest which has gone from strength to strength as bands battled it out in the five previous rounds.

It's been such a success there's talk of another Battle of the Bands next year with double the number of entries spread over a longer period, plus regular live music nights in the club starting next month.

And full praise must go to organisers Dave Aston, Hayden Birch and Martin White plus Banff manager Nial Carloss for staging such an incredible contest which has not only brought live music back to Southport with a resounding bang, but it's helped restore the town's live music “family” which was so strong about eight years ago. Like then today's bands help each other and attend each other's gigs – but most importantly they've forged lifelong friendships.

Back to Friday night – it was not only hot outside (in fact the hottest Friday evening in Southport since the contest started in early July), but it was even warmer inside as four bands delivered outstanding performances as they fought for the two remaining places in the final.

The lads in Some Time Today were on excellent form as they delighted the audience with a 30-minute set of not only uplifting music but that all important “feel good” factor – hugely entertaining. And it was good to see band member Toby Archer (one of the nicest guys on our local scene) back where he belongs – behind the drums.

And everywhere you looked in front of the stage, you saw people wearing very striking Some Time Today black tee-shirts. They offered me one earlier in the evening, but I still have (and wear) the one they gave me when they were guests on the final edition of Live Sounds on Mighty FM three years ago.

They went through on the audience vote, which left my fellow judge Miles Jones (who used to be the manager of the Fox and Goose when it hosted the famous Band Royale contests several years ago) and I with the extremely difficult decision of which band to add to the final line-up.

Miles and I agreed that Liverpool band Soul Captain owned the stage with their selection of original songs and sounds. And we were really impressed with The Coast, whose members have been leading lights on our local music scene for many years to come. Both bands can be proud of what they've achieved in the contest.

But we decided to send Liverpool indie rockers Lazy Sundaze into the final because of their exhilarating and energetic performance, backed up by brilliant and precise musicianship, gleaned no doubt from when they were students at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).

Sadly, regular host Dave Aston was missing due to illness. But his stand-in, Millionearth band mate Matthew Cook, did an excellent job of compering and also treated the audience to a display of very clever beat-boxing.

I'll be posting a video packed with live performances, band interviews and funny bits on Sunday/Monday.

The contest is taking a week's break but returns for the grand final on Friday, 26 August, at the Banff, starting at 7.30pm.

And the four finalists are: Slick Cupid, Coneheads, Some Time today and Lazy Sundaze. The four judges are Hayley Jones, Darren Leonard, Miles Jones and myself.

Don't miss it.