For two and a bit years Sound Guernsey have been giving young music fans in the island the chance to experience live music from both established and new bands.

From this, as well as the work of music schools like Thirst and School Of Popular Music (amongst others), many youngsters have picked up guitars, decided to hit the drums or have a go and shouting into a microphone, leading to a resurgence of sorts in the island’s youth music scene that had dipped somewhat.

For their latest event Sound focussed purely on these new bands and performers, all under-18 and ranging from total newcomers to a couple of bands who have a little longer under their belts despite their young age, giving them the chance to play on the same stage as everyone from Teaspoonriverneck and Thee Jenerators to Wilko Johnson and Elton John at The Fermain Tavern.

Having made her first appearances fronting the now defunct The Violet Diversion, Kiya Ashton got the live music going making her debut as a solo performer with a short set of three original songs.

Rather different to the past band’s hard rocking style that saw her aping her uncle Stace Blondel somewhat, this style allowed Kiya to instantly step out of that (rather long) shadow.

With a voice reminiscent at points of Cranberries’ Delores O’Riordan, its fair to say I think Kiya impressed many as she displayed a dynamic both vocally and in her guitar work going from real power to great delicacy.

There was one moment where she went a little too far into the shouty side of things for this style, but that kind of control is something that will come with experience, and to say she started the night out strong would be an understatement.

Zak Trimmer has become a favourite of the Sound audience in recent months and continued his impressive run with another short set of his acoustic songs with electronic embellishments.

While he comes across as a bit self-conscious there is a confidence and spirit in his performance that is instantly engaging and he mixes enough of the kind of soul found in the music of Frank Turner with the Ed Sheeran-esque moments to really connect.

The highlight of his set came with his final song that showed that behind the nice boy persona he exhibits there is certainly something else feeding the music and, with a full dance floor, its clear he’s really connecting with this crowd.

Isle Stone continued from their impressive Sound debut back in January as they kicked off with a surprisingly effective take on Rage Against The Machine’s Guerrilla Radio before working their way through songs from the likes of Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters and even Iggy & The Stooges.

While they are still a bit rough around the edges they play with an energy that carries them through, with guitarist Charlie Stevens and bass player Kristian Queripel particularly impressive.

Frontman Reuben Esterhuizen also has a huge amount of potential that will hopefully come out as he gets more comfortable on stage (certainly this was a big step forward even from January).

On a few occasions it may have got a big too loose but for such a new band that’s forgivable and again the audience ate it all up regardless.

While they may be a more established act compared to those who had come before, pop-punk trio Cosmic Fish had their work cut out following the powerful energy of Isle Stone.

This didn’t seem to deter them though as they delivered a fine set of pop-punk classics from the likes of Green Day, Jimmy Eat World and Blink-182 with a knowing sense of fun.

Arguably tighter than in the past, they just seem to need to find that extra something to push them to the next level, but its hard to argue with such bounce-along-able fun songs and I got a bit of a nostalgia kick hearing Little Things by Good Charlotte for probably the first time in 15 years.

Vice have been riding something of a wave since winning the Battle of the Bands at Chaos last summer and its clear why as they mix covers and their own songs in a tightly played and performed package.

Much like Cosmic Fish tonight though they suffered from the high energy of earlier in the evening and in comparison felt a little under powered and struggled to transmit beyond their adoring friends gathered in the front row.

With a solid look and continual improvement in their playing and performance though there’s a lot to like about Vice, I just can’t help but think they still need to work out exactly what they want to be doing (understandable for a band who’ve only been around for a year) at which point they could be great.

In contrast I don’t think anyone could ever accuse Track Not Found of lacking energy and, following a bizarre kazoo-along to The Bee Gees’ Stayin’ Alive, they launched into their set and had the audience moshing right away.

The release of their debut EP, The Only Way Is Lost, in December and their first show off island, over in Jersey, seems to have only pulled the band together even more and, while still nicely rough and gritty, they were much slicker and smoother sounding than in the past balancing a real sense of youthful fun with their trademark impassioned grungy noise.

With a raft of new songs added to the set the trio showed a new sense of dynamic and arrangement in the songs and, as they closed their set with another huge mosh, this felt like them beginning to live up to the promise of their recordings in a live environment.

While all the bands put in strong showings here the night highlighted a couple of things.

First, of course, is quite how strong and how much potential the younger end of Guernsey’s music scene now has after something of a drought period.

Secondly is how diverse it is in terms of gender which is great to see given the somewhat ‘boys club’ feeling rock music can have (with some notable exceptions) and I hope this is just the beginning of a more diverse and dynamic music scene in the island.