The Dogfest music festival for young, unsigned bands rocked The Railway Inn in Winchester on Saturday night.

Seven bands from Winchester and district exploded on to the music scene and entertained a full house at the St Paul's Hill venue with new sounds and energetic performances.

Dogfest is part of Distorted Sounds, a non-profit-making organisation run by young people for young people to give bands a place they can perform and share their talent.

It is supported by Stinky Fish Clubwear based in The Antique Market and run by Daryl Carter (19), of Winchester.

Daryl caught the eye of MP, Mark Oaten, who is trying to secure funding worth £3,465 for it. He believes it has a valuable role to play in offering youngsters an outlet for their talents.

The crowd-puller for the evening was Modular Series. James Sheppard, Chris Blake, Will Green, Matt Glasspool and Ben Griffe make up the band, which has a large following in the city. Fans are drawn by their powerful and unique style of punk/ heavy metal.

Guitarist, Chris, who works at HMV, in the High Street said: "This is the ninth time we've played at the Railway and it's always a good atmosphere. We've been trying to build a fan base and we're getting to the stage now where we are making an impact."

Matt added: "We've never played with a lot of the bands here, so it was good to hear what they had to offer. This is a step up for us."

Claire Richards, manager of the HMV store, was there to support the boys. She said: "I thought it was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I will definitely go again and HMV is always up for supporting young bands."

Liquid Footsteps, a rock band, were the youngest to perform and Dogfest was only their second gig. Sian Monaghan, Luke Tredgett, Ben Goddard and Will Ramsey, all 14, go to The Westgate School.

Sian said: "We are quite new on the scene and we want the chance to practice and gain respect. It's great that Dogfest is doing this, without it we would find it really hard to get gigs."

Friends of missing teenager, Dan Nolan, also performed. Blind Summit put on a gig in December at King Edward VI School, Southampton, to raise awareness of his disappearance.

Speaking after the event, organiser Daryl thanked his crew for the effort they put into making the concert a success. "All the bands enjoyed themselves. I've been getting nothing but good feed back."

Daryl and his team will be joining forces with Winnall Rock School, a similar organisation based at Winnall Community Centre and Distorted Sounds are planning a new festival called Paranoize which will be the punk equivalent to Dogfest.

The next event will be held at the Joiners in Southampton on Saturday June 14th and a venue is still to be confirmed for the Distorted Sounds official launch party on July 26th.

For more about Distorted Sounds,and how to get your band involved or become a volunteer, call 07980 668 196, or visit www.dog-fest.co.uk.

To find out more about Modular Series, visit their website on www.modular-series.com.