Monday, January 24, 2011

Back to the Battle

If anyone came to the site during its "down time" to see photos from the Jammin Java Battle of the Bands, held earlier this month, I'm sorry you didn't get to see them in a more timely matter. But now, without further ado, here's what went down on Wednesday, January 12th:

The first act to take the stage was the CHRIS COLLAT BAND, who set the bar very high for the night with an accomplished set that had a polished, DMB-style vibe.

Next up was I AM AVERNA, five young guys led by a singer with a monster voice.

Yet another young quintet. SUB-RADIO STANDARD, had the middle slot. (There were only five bands this night as one group, Starryville, was no longer in the lineup).

And now, a special guest star! While I was grabbing a drink between acts, I ran into another fine local musician VINCE SCHEUERMAN. Vince was just a teenager when he fronted beloved area band Cactus Patch, which morphed into Army of Me, and now leads a new outfit called River James. I told him I wanted to take his picture for the blog, but Vince vetoed a solo shot ("I feel like a farm animal," he protested gently) so here's a Facebook-style shot of me and him.
The penultimate (I told you I love that word) band was SKYLINES, a six-piece band that had lots of energy and a violin player to help vary its sound.

And the final band of the night, OH SO PELIGROSO, took us out with a fiercely compelling set that made the final decision a tough one.


Still, the winner was....Chris Collat and company. Sometimes, it really comes down to just a few points on the scoring card.

Which brings me to another, different kind of point. The last time I wrote about the Battle of the Bands, a few people left comments calling into question the judges' decision on Tuesday night. They complained that the band that won didn't have the same number of vocal fans as one that didn't. Just for the record, the judges work from a set of criteria that includes musicianship, style, songwriting and other factors, crowd support being just one of them. So, ultimately it's a talent, not a popularity, contest. The judges don't discuss the scores as we each write them down and the final tally is done by someone else working at the club. Hope that clears things hope.

BTW,  OH SO PELIGROSO gave me a copy of its full-length CD and I picked up two CD-Rs that other acts distributed to promote upcoming shows.
McTWIST - "So I'm Off"
BRIAN HUBER - 3-track sampler (including a song called "Snuggies" which is as scary as it sounds)
All of which makes the O/CD Tally: 19

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