 "Photo: Nicole Hayden -- For The South End")
With the phenomenon of Guitar Hero sweeping into the lives of young kids and teenagers, the desire to produce real music has lost some of its appeal.
On November 5th, though, it was a delight to see five aspiring bands playing real music, competing for a prize better than a high score on a video game.
The prize was not only $200, but also the recognition of being the best band of “Music Fest 2008: A Battle of the Bands,” hosted by the Delta Omicron Music Fraternity.
Each of the five bands was unique; “Mike Bassett and the Marthas” had a trombone play a leading role in the band and the lead singer of “James and the Rainbros” attempted to perfect the signature KISS tongue. No one band was like the next.
The night started out with the first band, “Jak Stout.” They appeared to be very amateur artists trying to expand their world of music, but not making a grand accomplishment of it.
Thankfully, the rest of the night was filled with bands that had skill and love for what they were doing.
The indie band, “Mike Bassett and the Marthas,” made their passion for music clear by how they acted on stage. It was evident to the audience that they were not just on stage to win first place, but to perform the music that they love.
They also had a big brass sound as a result of having a trombone as the lead instrument in their music.
Another band to perform was “The Barefoot Girls.” They were good considering that they appeared to be a fresh out of high-school garage band.
Their youth and innocence to the music was a nice contrast to the band that performed before them called “James and the Rainbros.”
The folk-rock band “James and the Rainbros,” would have made a bigger impact had they conducted themselves in a better manner.
Aside from their obnoxious lead singer, the lead guitarist found humor in drinking from a flask in the middle of their performance. By the end of the night they had made fools of themselves which resulted in them losing the vote.
The band that did end up coming out on top and winning the prize was the pop-rock band “The Mean Reds.”
They performed five songs, ranging from original pieces to covers like “Somebody Told Me,” by the Killers. The lead singer had a beautiful, strong voice while the lead guitarist delved into the music and just had fun.
Their perfected skill and love of their music made them the best choice for the prize.
The night got started with just a hand-full of people in the audience, but as the night wore on, more and more people trickled in.
One of Delta Omicron’s purposes and objectives of their fraternity is “to stimulate appreciation of good music at the community level,” and they did just that. By bringing these bands together it gave people the opportunity to appreciate music at the earliest level of fame.
