The Blake Studio hosted a revival of a Norwich School tradition on Thursday night, as E23 Radio presented Bandfest - a night of rock music from Norwich School's budding (and established) rock stars. 

To a packed Blake Studio of parents, staff and students, Upper 6 band Factor 50 gave renditions of Muse’s ‘Time is Running Out’ and the Killers’ ‘Somebody Told Me’, both given their own individual stamp by vocalists Megan Blair and Annabelle Eccleshall. Middle 5 soloist and The Voice Juniors finalist Perry Cooke led the crowd in an impromptu singalong of ‘Wonderwall’, and Upper 5 band the Cobblestones opted for The Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Zephyr Song and Muse’s Hysteria. Staff band Beard – who played at the original incarnation of the event in the 1990s – showed off their rock star credentials and brought the house down with some classics, ending their set with an unforgettable rendition of the Troggs’ ‘Wild Thing’. Quartet AD11 – whose bassist Jay Grimmer organised the event – headlined, finishing the evening with a version of Artic Monkeys’ ‘I bet that you look good on the dancefloor’ whose energy surpassed the original.

E23 DJ Lucas Nieboer provided tunes in between bands, and the evening was expertly compered by James Curtis and Johnny Reynolds. The event raised £400 for La Casita María Esperanza, a day centre for children of low-income families in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ms Gillham, E23 Radio’s station manager, said ‘The students have been brilliant, they’ve worked so hard practising and publicising the event, and it’s paid off. The whole thing sounded and looked fantastic. We’re so lucky to be able to give students experience of putting on a gig like this.’