Last Saturday night, four of RPI’s homegrown musical flowers came out to do battle in the McNeil Room for the chance at $100, a first place finish, and a trip to the upcoming final Battle in the spring. With guitar picks a‘blazin,’ and drum sticks a‘flyin,’ these bands gave it their all in attempt to win over audience votes, with one of the largest Battle crowds I’ve seen in years.
Insult to Tradition started the night off with a definitive ska sound, fast enough to make you tired just from watching. The singer/rhythm guitarist had a piercing voice, which, maybe not well suited for the opera, but was actually quite effective with this band’s music. Their drummer was sharp and showed the scope of his talent through many interesting and very fast riffs.
Two horn players rounded out the ska genre, actually doing a good job supporting each other’s sound, and were well balanced throughout the set. Even though I’m personally not a fan of ska music, these guys were consistent in keeping their music energetic and true-to-form. However, there were some parts that were so fast that I’m not even sure the boys in the band knew if they were on the same page. I didn’t know whether to act impressed or confused, but with a little cleaning and a little practice, this first band showed some real promise. Things were looking good for the night.
As the second act, Better than Static, set up their equipment, I couldn’t help but notice that this new drummer’s set had more pieces than a 747. Cymbals totally masked the drummer from view in every direction. The snare had a crack of pure unadulterated beauty. I am willing to bet this set was worth more than my RPI education, and I was hoping that this act was as high quality as the set on the Union stage.
The craziness and talent that I had hoped would come with this band’s set, however just wasn’t all there. The only-female fronted act of the night—and possibly all RPI history since the beginning of time—was good, but left me expecting more. The guitarist was solid most of the time, offering some decent riffs for their two original songs. The drummer was good, but often overpowered the rest of the band with his phenomenal equipment, and had some real rhythm trouble with the kick drum on their final piece. The real frustration came with the dual vocals of the group, which rarely harmonized and often clashed in an “oh boy” kind of way.
Even with parts of this group needing some work, however, their original songs were not all that bad. Their Offspring cover was in need of some cleaning, but recognizable. The real shocker was their final cover, a rendition of a Phantom of the Opera song, which I don’t think anyone in the audience saw coming. Besides a final high note from the front-woman that went on, and on, and on, and would not die, the audience in front of the stage seemed to like the song. It’s nice to see that so many RPI kids like Broadway.
The third act of the night, Grand Theft Audio, can be summed up in two words: damn good. I really don’t even feel I have anything to review with these guys, they’re all phenomenal musicians, they’re as clean as a trio can get, and they mix up their music to different genres and styles, making everyone happy. What more can you ask for?
During their act, they played two original blues-style songs and two very different covers. Their originals were good and solid, with some very impressive guitar styling. The piece that made every RPI student wet their pants was this group’s rendition of a classic, the Mario Brothers Nintendo game theme music. This multi-styled cover enthusiastically moved from musician to musician, and won over an impressive crowd response. After that song, the deal was sealed; anything less than first place for Grand Theft Audio called for martial law.
The group did finish the set with the ever popular “Freebird” cover. The only problem with their rendition was that their frontman/guitarist did not know the correct order of the Freebird lyrics, and when one plays a song as well known as Freebird, knowing the order of the verses is more crucial than nailing any guitar solo. Other than that blunder, the set was smooth.
Another interesting note about this group, which has played under various names on the McNeil Room stage before, is they have gotten screwed out of a win by the voting process every single time they’ve been at a Battle. The only difference was that this time, it worked, and the talented musicians of Grand Theft Audio walked away with the first place win. It’s always reassuring to see the best band of the night actually win best band of the night.
The final act, Eem, put on a performance comparable to that of the second band. Their opening cover of Fuel’s song “Jesus or a Gun” was low on energy. One of the reasons people love Fuel so much is because their front-man and rhythm guitarist Carl Bell can scream when he needs to scream, and sing when he needs to sing. Eem’s singer couldn’t scream, and sang every word in the song, taking away much of the heavy spirit of the cover.
Their originals were creative, one being about going to a fast food restaurant, or something of that nature. One original, however led to a drum solo interlude that left much to be desired. The double bass pedal work of Eem’s drummer was rhythmically sloppy, and the flow of the solo was hard to follow. Overall, the styling of Eem and Better than Static were now about neck and neck.
The one thing that personally disappointed me about this band was their final cover, a claimed “one hit wonder”, Do Right by my boys, my hometown music heroes, and my favorite band, Jimmies Chicken Shack. The actual song, which has a very subtle reggae backbone, is very hard to play correctly, and the boys of Eem unfortunately didn’t quite nail it. Again, this is probably just me because Jimmy is such a musically influential figure personally, but, the cover did not do justice to the song, an example of the cover quandary to play it right or don’t play it at all. You have to give justice to the song and the musicians who wrote it.
Overall, I was glad to see Grand Theft Audio win first place, and not surprised to see Eem take second, as a benefactor of the last band to go has the best chance to win syndrome. If the contest was totally fair, the boys of the first band Insult to Tradition would have gotten 2nd and a trip to the final battle, but that’s just how it goes. Next year boys, next year! Thanks as well to all of UPAC for a great show, and I think I speak for all live music patrons here at RPI when I say, bring on the final!
