Bands from all different walks of life and styles gathered at for what was sure to be a great show down at this year’s Battle of the Bands at Frontier Fiesta.
The line up consisted of Jet Queen, Rainchild, Featherface, last year’s winners Versecity, Stükenberg, and last minute addition Winter Road.
Before the first chord was struck, the announcer called out to the audience to see who came to see which performance, and lines were drawn in the sand as the crowd was split into roughly six sections each chanting for a specific band.
First up was Jet Queen, a band with a vocalist that shrieks like Steven Tyler and a lead guitar whose shredding would do Slash proud. The show had a great shot out of the gate with Jet Queen, but unfortunately most of the people in the crowd seemed to reserve their enthusiasm, as only a handful were just nodding their heads to the music.
Following Jet Queen was the band known as Rainchild, who was advertized as having a unique genre called “gulf rock” that sounded something like a gritty 3 Doors Down. As for the audience, half of them walked away before the third song was over. The cool reception was not a question of skill, but stage presence and the crowd’s music tastes. Had they been playing at the rodeo or perhaps to an older crowd they would have been received better.
The third band in the line up, Versecity, fired up with explosive energy that instantly has the crowd pumped and ready for more. The band had great showmanship as all members seemed to be showing personality and style rather than just standing in one spot like a statue. Versecity was sure to be one of the bands to beat.
Next up was the “experimental rock” group Featherface, an offbeat four person ensemble with a drummer, two guitarists, a bassist, and two synthesizer keyboards, results in one of the few bands in the lineup with there own unique sound. The crowd looked as though they were getting into the music and showed great feedback with shouting. It is shaping up to be a good line up with the bands so far, and Featherface seems to be up at the top.
Due to some last minute changes, the band who was meant to show up for fifth in the set could not make it, but thankfully Winter Road was able to help fill the spot. Though Winter Road fought the good fight, minor difficulties set them back.
The sound mix was favoring the bass, which swallowed every other instrument and even the vocals. This ended up making every song sound the same, which is a shame because the guitarist had some really nice solos. But without the balance of the instruments, the guitar just becomes white noise.
The final contender in the battle to finish off the night is a group from Austin known as Stükenberg.
With a sound that resembles folk rock/pop sound with a dash of blues, Stükenberg stands alone. With strong stage presence and good report with the crowd, this band knew how to put on a great show.
After the battles were fought and the music was played, the bands waited anxiously to hear the winners of the evening.
For first place, the band will take home a $1,000 check, while second place will walk away with $500.
When the dust cleared it was Versecity who came in first, and Stükenberg who was in a close second.
