It's final. The Dirty Skirts are the winners of Red Bull Soundclash for 2009, beating Tumi and the Volume in a closely contested battle of the bands.

The energy at the Carlton Centre Sky Rink was at its peak as the fans streamed into the Johannesburg location for the first event of this nature in South Africa. Two stages were set up, one on either end of the rink. On another stage in the centre Kenzhero and host Fixx, an MTV Base presenter, held the show together.

When the bands took to their respective stages, the 1200-strong crowd brought the ruckus, which was the premise for the night: the winner was decided by the audience's response. The "applause-meter" measured the noise levels by a microphone hung from the ceiling and the results displayed on massive screens for all to see.

After the "Warm Up " round, where each band got to play three of their own songs to get their fans in the mood, it was time to go all out. In the first round, titled "The Cover", DJ Kenzhero cheekily played a Spice Girls track which each band had to cover in their own style. While The Dirty Skirts' upbeat, edgy re-invention was something to behold, it was Tumi and the Volume's hip-hop, funk reworking of the '90s teen classic 'Wannabe' that won the crowd's favour.

From there on out, The Dirty Skirts took no prisoners. In the second round, "The Takeover", each band had to play one of their hits with the opposing band taking over the song midway through. Tumi and the Volume kicked it off with their hit, 'People People' with The Skirts taking it home. The Skirts followed with their 'Homewrecker' with the Volume jumping in with their own incredible take on the homage to "punching a hole in Saturday night". But it was The Skirts' fans who took the round in the end, screaming several decibels louder than Tumi's fans.

By the third round, "The Soundclash", the floor was a heaving sea of bodies. Each band had to play three of their own songs in three different styles or genres. DJ Kenzhero played a track to determine the genre and the band then added that style to one of their own songs. The genres ranged from house to hard rock. Tumi and the Volume's 'Wallpaper' could possibly have been a hard core rock tune originally had their fans not known better while The Skirts could very convincingly get into the house/electro market. By the end of the round the general noise of the crowd was pushing the dB meter higher and higher but once again The Dirty Skirts fans came through to win the round for the band.

The final "Wild Card" round had each band play one more song together with an invited musician unbeknownst to the crowd or the opposing band. You can imagine the roar of excitement as the queen of modern SA pop, Thandiswa Mazwai, took to the stage to share the microphone with Dirty Skirts frontman Jeremy de Tolly. And as if that weren't enough, the equally talented musical supernova Zolani Mahola from Freshlyground made her presence known from across the floor stepping up to perform with Tumi and the Volume.

In the end it was Cape Town's The Dirty Skirts and their beloved fans that pushed the sonic energy just a few decibels higher to take the round and ultimately win the clash.

The competitive energy on stage was more of a friendly rivalry and the bands played into the concept perfectly. As the Red Bull Soundclash trophy was handed over to The Skirts, they called on Tumi and his band to join them on stage for a final performance to end the night. The fans suddenly found themselves cheering for both bands and there was no longer a competition.