On a cool Thursday night the black box theatre in the Tabler Arts Center was crowded with anxious, energized students awaiting the announcement of the SSO and ACH Councils’s first Battle of the Bands finalists.
As the judges deliberated, tickets were drawn for the third and final raffle of the evening. After the iTunes $15 gift card and Staller Center tickets were raffled out, the judges had come to a decision. The room grew with anticipation as the judges passed on the results to Jen Green, undergraduate college advisor for Arts, Culture, and Humanities. There had been much build up to that moment, the closing of Stony Brook University’s first Battle of the Bands.
The night started off slow, with people slowly lingering into the room as a slide of performances from the semi-finals appeared on a projector and music played while the first band started setting up. Sometime after 8 p.m. the first band, Honus Wagner, started with their set. Unlike the semi-finals, the finals was hosted by somewhat of a popular figure here on Long Island, a radio disc jockey from WBAB 102.3.
One of the judges, Perry Goldstein, said he is looking for “interesting, original composed music” and “impressive levels of musicality” from the performers. The other judges included MTV producer Scott Segal, radio host Mark “the Animal” Mendoza, Paul Bingham, professor of biochemistry, Joanna Souza, and James Faith.
The bassist played on a red Fender Jaguar bass and the guitarist played an oak brown Gibson electric, while the drummer belted out the bands six songs of the night. The second band to perform was Thursday Was Cloudy. They started their set with a high energy intro that was a great way to get the audience pumped to hear them. They performed their new single, “Retreat, Retreat” off their self-titled album.
As the night went on, the crowd had doubled and their intensity was higher and moved closer to the stage. By the time Mother F’Nature went up to perform the audience was so close to the stage that they were eye to eye with the band.
With the last performance of the evening, Mother F’Nature did not have the smoothest set. The band had a few technical difficulties, including an amplifier that blew out, but in spite of these difficulties the band performed an adrenaline pumping set. While the lead singer attempted to fix the feedback on her green, acoustic-electric guitar, the crowd chanted “NATURE, NATURE,” showing their support for the band.
Honus Wagner was second runner-up, Thursday was Cloudy was first runner-up and Mother F’Nature won first place. Regardless of the results, each band brought something interesting and new to the stage. Each had their own personal musical style and great talent.
It is clear that the Battle of the Bands is an event on campus that has gained a lot of popularity among the students on campus. It provides a great outlet for anyone on campus who is interested in playing music either as a hobby or to begin a career. It brings together a group of diverse individuals who share a common interest in music and that was evident in the energy in the room that night.
Each of the competing bands have their music available on MySpace. Check them out at the following addresses:
Thursday was Cloudy www.myspace.com/thursdaywascloudy
Honus Wagner www.myspace.com/honuswagnertrio Mother F’Nature www.myspace.com/motherfnature
