D.I.T. Battle of the Bands final 2010
The Button Factory
29/04/10
Angela Macari O’Looney
It’s unbelievable how fast time goes and at one of Dublin’s top venues, it was time to battle it out again. J-Walkers, Rusty, Bo Jangled and Agro- Culture were selected from the many acts competing to get this far. So I knew that I and my guest were in for a treat!
J.Walkers
After a fabulous introduction from the MC, this cheerful foursome from Kildare took to the stage. Fronted by Steven Cassells; a guy with a winning smile, a brilliant voice and a way with rhythm guitar, they began their set with Time.
This starts off in a slow anthemic style. Vocals are excellent, especially harmonies and with lead guitar filtering in, dynamic builds up. A great choice for opening up their set, this powerful number got a great response from the audience. Being the first band on in a competition is never easy. Yet, these weren’t doing too badly and the new bassist blends in well.
With a trickling guitar intro and a delicious baseline, their second number was Tonight. This acoustic song is sweet, with a gorgeous melody. Harmony performed by the bass player Jonas Zaidys, makes a huge difference to the overall sound. They have a knack of composing brilliant choruses and this really beautiful song is no exception. An in sync middle eight done by guitars, a catchy refrain of ‘No, no, no’ behind the verse and an interesting increase in pace, all define this as one memorable number.
Wasting all your time is a reggae song. This involves some amazing guitar riffs and a short, but classy solo by Steve O’Connor on lead. Harmony sung by both he and the bassist create a full sound. Providing the essential backdrop to J.Walkers set was drummer extraordinaire Clifford Deane.
Steven introduced the bassist, who is from El Salvador. I think he fits in excellently with the band and makes an enormous difference. For their next song Waiting there, he does slap style bass that gives a funky feel to things. Lead does a scorching solo and harmony sprinkled in here and there adds to the sound.
I hoped they’d do my favourite J.Walkers song So damn easy and was thrilled to bits on hearing the intro. Jam packed with spark, a lively lead solo, flanger and distortion, this superb reggae number was going down well with the punters and the guys themselves were enjoying it. A big drum roll took this exciting set to a close.
Rusty
Beginning their set with Something about you; a choppy song which builds up to a faster pace, this Rock/Alternative band were entertaining from the get go!
With a Jimi Hendrix standard guitarist, who does amazing outbursts of lead throughout, this was quite a showstopper.
Liam Keegan-Vocals/Guitars, Nick Pickett- Vocals/Guitars, Keith Hayden- Vocals/Bass and Robbie McGonigle- Drums/Mixing hail from Skerries and have recently released their debut album Rusty.
Their second song started off bouncy, becoming faster for the chorus. No More is vibrant, with a catchy chorus. Lead vocals are good, with just a splash of harmony. Lots of distortion is used for guitars.
She wins begins soulful and slow. Nick swaps places with Liam to sing this one. Again guitars are the highlight of this act; with some great riffs and I like the way it seems to burst into life for the chorus.
The lead solo is particularly memorable. This has a fab rock vibe to it.
Television – Bassist does a lot in the intro here. I love the rhythmic, funk/Rock style beat. A cool riff done in sync, with ascending notation catches my attention and harmony lends to the scene here too. Guitars are superior throughout this memorable number.
Lost without your friends was the last of this set. Liam’s vocals suit this number well. Backing vocals are good and guitars too, but I find it a little bit long drawn out.
BoJangled
Just like the previous acts, BoJangled gave us an exceptional performance. With their Indie/ R&B/Ska style, they did a delightful set which I thoroughly enjoyed.
BoJangled are Steven Clifford-Rhythm Guitar/Vocals, Brian Sinnot-Lead Guitar/Vocals, Rob Gaffney-Bass and James Clifford-Drums. Formed in 2008, they have a unique sound involving a mish-mash of genres that is upbeat and very entertaining.
They performed Happy Families which has a catchy chorus, with lovely harmony and vocals that are very polished. I liked the part where the music stopped and they sang out the words ‘Shock wave’. The guitar riffs and hooks are delicious too!
I found that this band seemed really relaxed up there and I totally loved That Friday Feeling, with its witty lyrics, choppy beat and fantastic lead guitar solo. Steven’s lead vocals are top class. With such amazing singers in every act, I felt rather sorry for the judges of this competition.
Jenny is a Raver has great lyrics and lovely harmony in the middle eight, which is performed by the entire band. Riffs are excellent, as are guitars throughout. Flanger is used in spates.
Taking influences from names such as Madness, Arctic Monkeys, Velvet Underground and Oasis among many others, they are very promising indeed!
Aggro Culture
Grunge with a capital G springs to mind immediately, as this crazy bunch from Dublin take to the stage. The lead singer Leigh O’Reilly is top notch and loaded with charisma. Distortion packed heavy rock chords blast out from guitars c/o Leigh on Rhythm, Dafydd James on lead, with loads of bass c/o Spud Murphy featuring throughout the whole set. Perfect, if you like this sort of thing and judging from the reaction from the audience, one of the popular contestants.
The singer does this possessed- by- the- devil style vocal that I dislike. But he oozes showmanship and there’s no denying the standard of musicianship in the instrumentals.
They began their set with Mutant, where you can barely hear the music for the distortion. Gruesome, adrenaline charged stuff!
If they wanted to be a bit different, they definitely succeeded.
For What is hunger the singer sat at a keyboard and sang with his natural voice. You get quite a surprise here, because he has a great voice and in this number, which is the best of their set by far, he shines.
Although this set was outstanding, it became more of a floorshow, with exhibitionists throwing caution to the wind and taking off their shirts to head bang. The singer shook a huge plastic bottle of mineral water over those nearest the stage. It was mayhem and a tad O.T.T. in my book!
It wasn’t a long wait before the judges announced the winners of the contest. People from IMRO and EMI were among them and must have had a struggle picking out a best. But in the end the prize went to Aggro Culture. I’ve learnt that it’s like the Grand National at these events and with the standard of talent in the young bands involved, you never know!
I was a bit sad that all the bands couldn’t win and was rooting for J.Walkers, but totally loved each act and wish them lots of luck in the future.
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