Begin Anew wins local band face-off
By: Alyssa de la Garza
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: News
| |
| |
|
For ASAB's final event of the spring semester, Battle of the Bands was held to showcase Eastern's talent in the rock and roll arena. The event was last held in the spring of 2007, and has since been requested to return.
According to Amanda Gonzales, one of ASAB's student volunteers in charge of setting up the event, it's no surprise the event made its grand reappearance.
"Students love participating," Gonzales said, "This is something that can bring out all the talent Eastern has to offer."
As those who attended the event can testify, Gonzales was right on the money. The four bands that performed at Eastern's 2009 Battle of the Bands showed more than their fair share of talent as well as stage presence that rivals the Stones at their strangest.
Each band had their own strong points - Gilmore had great lyrics, Sexual Chocolate had unbelievable stage presence, Thousand Year Reign had obvious love for their music, and Begin Anew had a following that's second only to their talent.
The judges for this year's event were ASAB's director Tracy Henderson, Eastern's History of Rock and Roll professor Lindsay Beasley, and Manuel Guillen, whose band was 2007's Battle of the Bands winners.
The performers were judged on preparedness, originality, interfacing with the audience, and presentation. Judging proved to be a lot more difficult than they were expecting.
"It was really hard," Beasley said of making the big decision. "They had all different types of music, and we liked different things about each of them… we had to leave our personal opinions at the door, and judge on the criteria we had in front of us."
The judges couldn't pick a definitive winner and it came down to two bands in a sudden death match. Gilmore and Begin Anew faced off before an enthralled crowd of supporters, and in the end it was Begin Anew that walked away the victor.
"It was great playing in our hometown," Lawrence Gamble, the lead guitarist, said of their performance. "It's probably our best show ever… it's nice to know that we have supporters even out here in the desert, where there isn't that much of a metal scene."
Metal scene or not, the crowd was crazy about Begin Anew. The students attending the event almost doubled when the band took the stage, which was no small feat.
Begin Anew's supporters - some wearing the band's logo t-shirts - jumped and screamed for the musicians, though you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who could sing along to the lyrics. Myron Soliz's vocalizing made the words of their songs difficult to understand, but Gamble just chalked that up to their style.
"I think it just makes it more emotional. It's not just yelling," Gamble said. "It's melodic metal."
Melodic or not, these metal-heads had a great time performing for a few hundred screaming fans and were able to walk away with an award to show for it. As far as gigs go, it doesn't get much better than that.