Hicks is the new London champion!

Wow - still shocked and hungover from an amazing night...over 1200 came through the door with a one in one out all night!! Thanks for all those who came down and had the patience to chill outside.

This Secret Wars was probably the best so far - everything went perfectly and the venue was a huge step up from Cafe 1001. A very proud moment seeing how far Secret Wars has come in just over 2 years....The USA is next!

With Reeps favourite to win, Hicks came in feeling little pressure - Both guys had a plan and both were well prepared for an intense and exciting SW battle.

The crowd was electric and the atmosphere at times was tense...The battle finally kicked off around 10:30pm and people stood in awe as the guys got to work on the large white walls (12ft wide by 8ft high).

All night DJ Session kept the crowd rocking with a stack of classic tunes, with the crowd screaming with every mix.

When the time came to get the judges on stage, the tension began to mount and I found it hard to get anywhere the stage. First up to judge came Ligaya (Victoria & Albert Museum) who decide to give her vote to Hicks, then Reeps came fighting back with a massive decibel smashing crowd vote 1-1....It came down to the final judge - Brett from MTV / 1/10, after much thought and pacing on stage he finally pulled out his edding board marker and scribbled Hicks on his white board!!

We have a new and very worthy champion....Hicks (54 crew)

Thanks to all those who came down and supported and a huge thanks to the entire team on the night and edding markers for linking us up as usual.

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The set up during the day.

Sketch for the outside banner by Jimi Crayon - Oh and who stole it?? please leave a comment to say it is safe and in a good home....



The HUGE queue of people trying to get in from 8pm - Over 1200 people came through the door and it was one in / one out all night..Sorry to those that did not get in!



Hicks getting interviewed by one of many TV channels in attendance.



Some shots of Hicks celebrating with friends






Final wall - Reeps (Left) & Hicks (Right)



photos taken from - Elliot Rebellious & Phil Gabriel

Also check out this amazing full length timelapse from Light and Time - http://www.lightandtime.co.uk/rushes/secret_wars_timelapse.mov

Quarter Final - Set 2 @ The Secret Warehouse

This was the night everyone had been waiting for....The big guns of the competition going head to head in the Q finals - Wen (defending champion) vs. Hicks!

To start the night off we had two new artists in Reeps 1 (The human beatboxer) going up against Chent who flew all the way back from Paris to compete.

It all kicked off around 10pm, giving people a couple of hours to rinse the bar dry! Vocal chords were strong and loud and the crowd seemed passionate in their opinions...

Jimi Crayon was in fine form on the mic - making his voice heard when it mattered most...

After a gruelling and intense 90 mins the first battle was up (Reeps vs. Chent) - Reeps scrapped through with both votes from the judges.

Next up was the vote for the the BIG one, Hicks had once again dazzled people with his brush skills and Wen did what he does best, master pieces!

Another tight call but "there can only be one" as Highlander would say, and that was girls favourite Mr Hicks! Congratulations to both for putting on an amazing show for all who came down.

Photos by - Mike Stenhouse

More here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesten/tags/wenvshicks/

BOTH SEMI FINALS WILL BE HELD AT THE SAME WAREHOUSE ON JAN 31ST