At Friday’s Battle of the Bands, four bands did a pretty good job. I don’t know if it’s just me but I feel like teenagers creating their own bands is such a movie thing that I forget that it is also real.
There were definitely highlights, but all in all, every band came out and did a good job. The two judges were Mr. Ahnert, and Mr. Marrow, who both sounded like they knew what they were talking about, which is always a good sign. Also, every performance was very different, so it was cool to see each group’s different sound.
The Atomic Nuns won the contest for best name, without a doubt. It wasn’t even close. Nuns that are atomic – it doesn’t get much better than that. The band consisted of vocals, guitars, a piano, a drummer, and a shaker (it adds character). The most memorable song was the one about grenades, but also a hint of the Boston Red Sox. Cool. I like it. Grenades, baseball, and nuns – it’s quite the combo.
The lead was good about talking to the audience, and was the only one to introduce his bandmates, which I really liked. Mr. Ahnert remarked that there was a “stranger things vibe,” which is the natural conclusion. Where else would atomic nuns be? But it we’re comparing bands to TV shows, then I would disagree and say a it was definitely Game of Thronesish. But actually, the music was very different, and I had a hard time placing it with anything. The main critique from both judges was that there needed to be more of a balance between the instruments, and they needed to be more in sync. Sadly, the Atomic Nuns didn’t win, but if it was based on names, it would’ve been a landslide.
The last band went home with the trophy: Backdrop. They were amazing. There was a trombone, a saxophone, a trumpet, two guitars, a drummer, two pianists, and a killer lead singer. It was a complete collision of instruments, but it totally worked. The set of this band though, unlike the rest, offered variety. No song was alike. The lead singer was also very confident, and she was dancing and talking to the audience. It is probably incredibly nerve racking to get up there, and really do anything but sing, but she took it to a whole new level. She looked like she was born to be on a stage.
The lead guitarist was also noteworthy. He did some crazy things with his guitar, that was truly mind boggling. Also, this band as a whole looked like they were having fun performing. When they finished the last song, drum sticks flew through the air and everyone was high fiving. They were definitely the most bandlike out of all the bands.
The second band was a duo called Strings, which consisted of an acoustic guitar and an extremely strong singer. The guitarist added to the songs by looping a beat that he created on his guitar, adding the effect of another instrument. They were great to listen to.
The third band, 2 Drummers with Guitars, were also very good. I’ll let you guess what instruments they played, but besides the self explanatory, there was also someone with a triangle. It brought the whole band together. They also had some banter when they got up on stage that was pretty funny, so they did well with stage talking, rather than just playing. The judges both noticed that the lead singer was a little nervous, and he needed to be more confident in his voice. However, they nailed it.
All four bands put on quite the performances, and very much battled it out.
