The Rosemount Hotel played host to the state final of the WA leg of the National Campus Band Competition, a competition that has surely become one of the biggest in the country. And if the talent displayed on Saturday night was anything to go by, previous winners like Eskimo Joe, Jebediah and The Preytells had better watch out.

First up were The Babalas from Murdoch University and with their groupies doing an excellent job of getting the early crowd moving the three-piece started the evening bill of nicely with an upbeat pop-rock set.

Next were The 45s from Edith Cowan University, definitely a standout for this reviewer as they effortlessly moved between all-out awesome guitar anthems that shook the Hotel windows to songs with an underlying hint of country and blues making for an interesting and varied set by the four-piece.

The Wilderness, second place winners from the semi-final at the Paramount, and also from Edith Cowan University, were next and it wasn’t until the second song that I realised what was different about them. They didn’t have a bass guitar!

After being informed last week that a band cannot be without a bass I was curious to see how the three-piece would go. It’s like being a vegetarian, someone once told me: if you insist on taking the meat away, you have to replace it with something of equal value. And that’s exactly what The Wilderness managed to do with a keyboardist and a singer, who also played mean lead guitar, insisting the crowd get moving while he belted out a ditty on his harmonica; adding a little something extra to their bluesy rock sound and getting punters to dance like they were at a seriously rocking barn dance.

After a short break much anticipation was built as SeventyFive Laydown set up. First there was the excitement at seeing a girl gracing the stage and strapping on a bass after all this testosterone and then there was the lead singer, with his ‘I’m the prettiest cowboy in all of Texas’ look, he was so different to his bandmates that it was hard not to get curious about their sound.

When the three-piece from Curtin University did begin, out came a voice that would probably suit a metal band a little more. Musically, SeventyFive Laydown were tight and technically brilliant but onstage antics let them down — get to know the crowd before you start calling them MoFos.

Next were the very classy boys from the University of Western Australia known as Eddie Lovejoy. Described as ‘piano rock’, the Lovejoys opened with a song called Elisa and keyboardist/lead singer Erin Gordon openly told the crowd ‘this is about a girl I used to know’.

Some were saying they were like Ben Folds Five with a much louder rock sound. Whatever they are, one thing is for sure; they were a crowd pleaser and when guitarist Aidan Gordon pulled out a flute later in the set, it was obvious that this year’s music was all about crossing genres and being as innovative as possible without being showy. The only thing Eddie Lovejoy were showing off was their musical and lyrical talent.

Toward the end of Eddie Lovejoy’s set, the crowd started to thicken and it became apparent that The Four Walls and The Dee Dee Dums were the major crowd-pullers for the evening.

TAFE’s The Four Walls, who have blended that distinctive late 1990s britpop sound with just the right amount of rock were a hit with the crowd and some were a little suprised that they didn’t take out the top spot.

That honour belonged to the sixth band for the evening, The Dee Dee Dums. This three-piece have been described as 1970s inspired pop-rock and ‘pure sex’ in the words of one MySpace user. Garnering quite a following for themselves around Perth in their relatively short time together they showed exactly why with their electric vibe and, dare I say it, a vocalist who sounds a lot like the late and great Jim Morrison.

The Four Walls came a close second though and Eddie Lovejoy took out third spot.

The Dee Dee Dums will enjoy $8000 worth of prizes from Jim Beam; three days studio time and 3000 mastered and duplicated CDs from Sony BMG Music as well as representing WA in the national final to be held in Sydney later this year.

Stay tuned to FasterLouder for details of the national final.