April 4, 2024 | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | By Greta Patterson
The second round of Battle of the Bands took place over the weekend on Saturday, March 30 in Ed Robson Arena. The four bands who performed were Shop Dogs, Right Swipe, Burgertown and Little Green Guys. Each band was given 15 minutes to perform. Following the first round of BOTB, where many students were turned away at the door due to capacity limitations, the second round was moved to Ed Robson Arena which allowed for far more students to attend.
Although Strip was initially meant to perform, after being voted to move on from round one, an announcement at the beginning of the show declared that Strip would no longer be performing. Regarding this development, Strip saxophonist Bella Takacs said, “My first feeling was confusion because I didn’t know what we did wrong, and when I found out it was because some of my bandmates voted for themselves. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t allowed”.
She said an email had been sent a few weeks before the event with the rules, but that it wasn’t heavily emphasized, so band members forgot about this rule. She said that they did not intentionally break any guidelines set by SoCC.
“It was just disappointing and frustrating to hear two days in advance that we wouldn’t be able to perform, it felt like such a disrespect for all the work we put in,” Takacs said. “I’m glad the event went over smoothly and no other bands were eliminated but it felt like a huge diss to us and like someone was out to get us.”
Takacs emphasized that she felt no animosity towards SoCC and were grateful for all the opportunities to play in the past, but felt taken aback when the band was originally told they would never be able to perform at BOTB again, especially when not every member of the band participated in this voting. Strip and its members are now able to participate in future BOTB competitions.
When initially asked about this change in lineup, event director Emma Logan ‘24 said, “out of respect for all the participants of Battle of the Bands and the guidelines we set to ensure the competition’s integrity, we’d rather keep those discussions private between SoCC members and the student musicians involved.”
A later discussion from Logan and Avery Carey, co-general manager, outlined their perspective on the situation. They said the guidelines were “clearly communicated” in previous announcements and a consistent rule over the past three years. “As the folks behind Battle of the Bands, it is SoCC’s responsibility to ensure equity and fairness for all students participating in the competition.”
The reasoning behind the policy of not allowing bands to vote for themselves revolved around certain bands having more members than others, thereby allowing bigger bands to have more sway over the vote.
Another influencing factor in eliminating Strip was a previous precedent set this year. In a statement released to The Catalyst, Logan stated that “Prior to round one another act did not adhere to other clearly communicated guidelines, and we had to make the difficult decision to not allow them to perform. Because we did not extend an exception to this other act, we felt that once we noticed evidence that suggested other guidelines were broken, we could not in good conscience do so for the band that we had to disqualify.”
As for the actual competition, Shop Dog began the night with “Good For You” by Olivia Rodrigo, featuring a great riff by the lead singer and guitar soloist. They then performed the classic, “Gimme Gimme Gimme” by ABBA with a unique saxophone addition. To end their set, they performed a cover of “Kilby Girl” by The Backseat Lovers.
Right Swipe followed with “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, also featuring a saxophone which brought depth to the song. They slowed it down a bit with “Don’t Know Why” by Nora Jones and then quickly got the energy back up with a rendition of “Valerie” by The Zutons.
Burgertown followed, with their spin on “Welcome to Paradise” by Green Day, replacing the lyric “welcome to paradise” with “welcome to Burgertown.” They engaged the crowd heavily throughout the set by throwing mini candy burgers into the crowd and the music lent itself to a good ol’-fashioned mosh pit. The lead singer Sam Goodner wore a variety of hats, switching from a burger hat to a pink cowgirl hat and back again. They then performed “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne and ended their set with, “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears.
Burgertown unfortunately encountered technical difficulties which made the lead singer inaudible during their second song. The band kept up the energy and performance anyway, and the issue was eventually resolved.
Little Green Guys ended the night, adorned in coordinated outfits, with their pianist wearing a tank top that said “I love hogs and BDSM.” They began with “Benny and the Jets” by Elton John and transitioned into “Stayin’ Alive” by Bees Gees. “F*ck You” by CeeLo Green followed and was a crowd favorite as dancing ensued. They closed out with a sped-up version of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” by Radiohead.
In the end, Shop Dog and Little Green Guys won after crowd voting. With this, the two bands each won 400 dollars and will be advancing to perform at Llamapalooza later this year. Llamapalooza is generally considered one of the biggest events on campus for CC students, with both students and professional bands performing over the course of a day. Food trucks, couches, free goodies and more are just a few things you can look forward to with this capstone event. Keep on dancing, party people!