This past weekend, 16 bands came together to battle it out in Colorado College’s very own Gaylord Hall in hopes of making it to the next round and to perform at Llamapalooza.
Each night presented a diverse variety of music, featuring bluegrass, jazz, and some general head-banging good dancing music.
I had seen most of these acts before, but it was nice to be reintroduced to the gloriousness of Most Bodacious and the debut of Ominous Animals, which featured the heavenly skin-tingling vocals of Sophie Capp.
Each night was truly a blessing, but nothing could prepare me for MountainTop, the band that performed on Saturday. As they set up onstage, I got instant flashbacks of Goiter who performed at last years Battle of the Bands.
Finally the set began; band members wore horse masks, dresses, and thongs. In the corner, someone began to cut watermelon slices, then someone began to set up a smoothie maker, and later on, members were handing out hard-boiled eggs to the crowd.
The music included lots and lots of screaming and some bits of rapping here and there, and flags were waved on the stage. People began to look up at me in dismay.
Well, they weren’t disrespectful, didn’t trash the stage, so I guess everyone is entitled to their 30 minutes of set regardless of the type of music.
At least they helped clean up the mess afterwards. Part of me wonders if I will be seeing a reincarnation of them again next year.
After three long tiring nights, my back ached from all the dancing. It may have been a bit of a different vibe than last year, but at least more people were able to attend. Plus, nothing catastrophic happened, and there was a better voting system was in place.
The fun isn’t over. Soon, round two will be upon us and we will be able to see finalists Drunk Uncle, Funkdozer, Male Nurse, Randy and The Reptiles, Rocket Power, and Touchit battle it out again for the opportunity to perform at one of the biggest musical events of the school year. Round two is Tuesday, April 7 at 6:20 p.m in Cossitt Ampitheatre.