For a night that is. Last night, me and my fellow radio weekend DJ Ricky Biggs filled in as judges for UCSB Battle of the Bands, the winner would go on to preform (opening act to get all technical) at UCSB's free summer concert the Extravaganza. I don't like to judge music dispite the fact I am a huge music snob, I just don't think its right for someone to judge art, it just is. I digress and besides, this is all about fun so I was looking forward to seeing what undiscovered gems turn up. I might see the next moterhead or Arcade Fire on stage, you never know.
I am not gonna name any of the bands that lost just give you highlights. The rules are simple, each band has a 20 minute set, and at the end we 3 judges decide on who the best band is.
1st band up was appreatly pretty well know in according to the 3rd judge (she went to UCSB and is part of KCSB, UCSB's college radio station). They were actually good and were my front runners right off the bat. If they checked their levels better and the lead singer would just close his mouth while they play the have the potential (i said potential) of being a Mogwai/Russian Circles/Red Sparrows type band.
2nd band started off well, but as they played I started paying attention to what they were playing and one could hear how simplistic its was. Then there was a huge pause after their first song and brought up 2 college girls to sing with them, I wish they wouldn't have. These ladies were not on the same page, pulling flat notes and not harmonizing properly are only some of the reasons how these ladies college girls killed this bands opportunity of opening the Extravaganza.
The 3rd band, which at last count had 11 people on stage including 2 saxophone dudes and an actual bridge section, took the stage with costumes and were ready to go. They were tight and you could tell they practiced cause of how professional their 20 minute set was. The crowd was loving them, they covered MGMT's Electric Feel and somehow made their version alot more upbeat than the original (dont know how but they did). They knocked off the 1st band as the front runners, 2 more bands to go.
The 4th band came on and what a tragedy that was. Everything was sloppy and thier style was totally generic. They had the whole 311/sublime thing going, but it wasn't working at all. Like 311 says, you gotta come original. The worst part about it was that you could tell that their band was totally feeling on themselves thinking they were all good, funny how perspective works. If someone told me to check out this band and I actually took their advice that somebody and me would no longer be friends after this show.
5th band was a nice escape, they definitely had a different sound and overall appeal, but anything good I was about to say was quickly squashed as soon as the lead singer let his preteniuos feathers fly, taking off layers of clothings, talking smack and thinking his band rules. If his music was actually good or he was talented in any way I would let him get away with being pretentious, but hes not so I am gonna burn this guy. Between his Gavin Rossdale look, super tight jeans, bullshit stage banter and generic music these cats did not get my vote.
I believe me and my fellow judges made the right decision and the 3rd band (Fire Department) with the Saxophone men won.
Big ups to Cindy and the rest of the Staff at UCSB for letting this radio DJ judge, it was a fun experience. And thanks again for the Turkey Burger, it hit the spot.
Follow Ricky here
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