Harrogate schools set to rock Royal Hall in AMP Awards

Hundreds of teenagers from schools across the Harrogate district are gearing up for tonight's grand final of Yorkshire's biggest and most high profile battle of the bands competition.
2015 AMP Awards winners Backyard Bisons from Ripon Grammar School.2015 AMP Awards winners Backyard Bisons from Ripon Grammar School.
2015 AMP Awards winners Backyard Bisons from Ripon Grammar School.

Since it was first launched in 2009 by two local teachers, the AMP Awards has grown rapidly with sister contests set up across the county in Leeds, Bradford, York, Doncaster and Sheffield.As well as its well-organised but friendly spirit, the AMPS is famed for being far more than a musical talent competition.Now in its eighth year, the AMPS prides itself on promoting enterprise skills with collaborations between pupils, business sponsors and mentors from the music industry in a variety of business and marketing tasks.But the real glitz and the glamour lies with the young musicians who will appear at the grand final in front of hundreds of fellow pupils tonight, Wednesday, February 10.Open to general audiences, as always the Harrogate Advertiser Series will be there - represented once again by Graham Chalmers as one of the event’s X Factor-style judges.Last year's AMPs final saw Backyard Bisons, a young acoustic act from Ripon Grammar School, triumph in the final.Previous winners such as Purple Mafia, Book of Job and Summer City have gone on to win indie record contracts and prestigious gigs as a result of success in the AMP Awards.The final itself, held next Tuesday, February 10, schools taking part include St Aidan’s High School and St John Fisher High School from Harrogate, Ripon Grammar School, Outwood Academy from Ripon, Nidderdale High School from Pateley Bridge, Tadcaster Grammar School and Queen Ethelburga’s.