The 1996 Battle of the Bands was run by Contact 89FM and held at the Wailing Bongo. The winners of each heat are denoted with an asterisk(*), and the bands are listed in the order they played.
Heat 1 - July 25
Usine
Captain Stubing
Gas*
Bleed
Heat 2 - August 1
Department of Corrections*
Trucker
Disjecta Membra
Psyclops
Heat 3 - August 8
Lizard
Grok*
100 Monkeys
The Lobes
Indie pop band 100 Monkeys were called Lure at the time of this performance. However, they changed their name by the final due to a Blackmetal band also called Lure competing in Heat 4
Heat 4 - August 15
The Greasers
The Poppets
Leithe*
Lure
Final - August 22
100 Monkeys
Leithe
Gas
Grok - FIRST
Trucker - SECOND
Department of Corrections - THIRD
Trucker and 100 Monkeys were wild card entries to the final.