THE result, let's be fair, was pretty much a foregone conclusion, as bookies' favourites Idle Jack And The Big Sleep celebrated a landslide victory in their round two heat.

The quality of the bands on show, however, was unexpectedly high, as Fibbers witnessed two other performances from bands who could have easily triumphed over less daunting opposition.

First up were Selby's Blind Spot, who overcame their relative outsider status with style.

Energetic frontman John Wace was the centre of attention from the off, while his bandmates served up a feast of tuneful punk-pop worthy of Weezer, or The Offspring back when they were good (about 1994 then).

Although comparisons to Blink 182 and early Green Day are inevitable, the band's set varied in both pace and style, and sounded accomplished for such young musicians.

The Tungsten Beanbags appeared onstage with a dark, swampy opener reminiscent of The Doors, and their set went on to gradually reveal the different sides to their talents; menacing, brooding guitar lines sat comfortably with the kind of hillbilly rock'n'roll so beloved of the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster.

It eventually appeared that their hearts lay in the kind of dirty punk pioneered by such luminaries as the Flamin' Groovies and the Electric Prunes, though they weren't afraid to throw in crowd-pleasing moments such as a completely arbitrary drum solo, and a cover of Shocking Blue's Love Buzz.

A thoroughly enjoyable show then, by a thoroughly interesting band.

The privilege of closing the night fell to the eventual winners, whose opener bode extremely well, starting off as a jaunty stomp and gradually morphing into a howling beast of a thing, topped off with the Captain Beefheart growl of Rob Hughes fed through a megaphone.

Things got slightly more straightforward from thereon in, though the use of a banjo and theremin showed bursts of idiosyncrasy, and there were always enough tunes to please the crowd.

As long as the band stays just the right side of the line marked "overwrought Pearl Jam MOR", and keep on pushing themselves to innovate musically, then their many loyal supporters could be on to a very good thing.

The final result came as no surprise - Idle Jack And The Big Sleep have the fan base to easily triumph over less established acts - but only time will tell if they are musically strong enough to outperform the other highly-rated bands in this most hotly-contested of competitions.

In the meantime though, last night showed once again that York and the surrounding area is thriving musically, and that it's not just the bigger bands who need to be watched.