Our top young bands will find out which among them is battle of the bands winner at the finale, writes Laura Stace 

The verdict is in. The six best bands in Cairns are Minus Penny, One Eye Deer, Approaching Aver, For an Occasion, Recoil and The Medics.

After being named winners of the past three heats the bands will return to Gilligan’s tomorrow at 5pm for one last battle to see who will play alongside Faker, Kisschasy, Scribe and Blue King Brown at this year’s timeOUT concert.

Since launching in February, The Medics have released a CD, built a strong fan base and booked gigs including the upcoming Black Stump Festival in Sydney.

But no matter how popular it gets guitarist Andrew Thomson says the band is adamant it will remain true to its indie roots.

Recoil wooed the crowd and the judges with their three-song set and sailed right through to the final.

"Recoil had a kind of ‘John Butler acoustic rock’ thing going on," judge Niki Bruce says.

Recoil lead vocalist, Sean Rafferty, says the heat was "a blast". He and his band mates are "over the moon" with the results. Going into the final, the band has no strategy other than to have fun.

"When you are having fun up there everyone else will be having fun," he says.

Guitarist for Kuranda-based grunge rock band For an Occasion, Shane Martin, was impressed by the local bands in his heat.

His group recently released its first, self-titled album after returning from a tour of Japan.

If For an Occasion wins the final, Shane says it would be great to represent Kuranda at the timeOUT concert at the showgrounds.

Approaching Aver released their debut CD, All That Matters, earlier this year and will be joining The Medics at the Black Stump Festival.

Guitarist for the band, Jacob Long, hopes to gain the chance to pick the brains of Kisschasy and Faker and find out what it is like to be famous.

It is Minus Penny’s third time entering the competition and after making it through the first heat it could be third time lucky.

Band member Will Campbell says it would be amazing to see the band’s name up in lights alongside Blue King Brown and Scribe.

 Don’t forget these are your last days to collect tokens from The Cairns Post to get a free ticket to see the Battle of the Bands winner, Faker, Kisschasy, Scribe and Blue King Brown, at the timeOUT concert at the Cairns Showgrounds on August 30.

• The timeOUT Battle of the Bands final will be held at Gilligan’s tomorrow from 5pm.

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