Like the GPO during the 1916 uprising, everyone in Ireland seems to have seen U2 play in the now-defunct Dandelion Market.
If everyone who says that had actually been at those early gigs, U2 would have retired on their earnings before they even got started. (As it is, they’re not doing too badly these days.)
Of course, phenomena like U2 only happen once in every generation. But even moderately successful bands have to start somewhere, and there are “early gigs” happening all the time all over the place. We just don’t know which, if any, of those gigs will prove significant.
I recently had the pleasure attending such a gig when I served as a judge at a Battle of the Bands in Dublin. Battles of the Bands have long been at the heart of rock ‘n’ roll, and I’ve been to dozens of them over the years, in schools, halls, parks and even churches. They were a great chance for bands to compare notes – and chops. They were terrific social hubs. But most importantly, they represented a chance for bands to get out of the spare bedroom or the garage and play in front of an audience.
Against the grain
I have to admit that I had my doubts about this one. In the era of MP3s, MySpace, CoolEdit and GarageBand, when digital detachment seems to be the norm, I wondered if Battle of the Bands was an idea whose time had passed, like Super-8 film or “You’re a Star.”
I needn’t have worried. It was one of the most enjoyable nights of music I’ve heard in a very long time.
The format was simple: eight bands had a half hour each to play their best stuff. The judges then had to pick a winner, and this band pocketed EUR*250 prize money. The judges included friends and colleagues Declan Meehan (presenter of the morning show on East Coast Radio) and Brian Adams (Music Director of Today FM). Like me, they are veterans of countless Battles of the Bands, both as attendees and occasionally even as participants.
The bands were for the most part derivative, and primarily played cover versions. They were working within familiar musical genres: Punk, Indie, Grunge, Speed Metal and Rock. This much we expected; these bands are, after all, still finding their feet music-wise.
We also expected to hear enthusiasm and commitment, and there were plenty of both.
High skill level
What we didn’t expect was the quality of the musicianship. Usually, you will hear a good singer or a guitar player – or maybe one of each. We weren’t disappointed. Kim Davitt, lead vocalist of Last Call, has a terrific voice – powerful and distinctive – and by far the best of the night. Halcyondaze boasted a fine guitar player, who just needs a little discipline to his riffing. But what shocked us was that all of the bands had great rhythm sections, and three of the drummers were top-notch. Franz Lawlor, drummer with the Speed Metal band Deathonation (pronounce this in the Dublin way and you’ll get the pun) really stood out to us.
Also unexpected was the fact that several of the bands included original material in their sets. In fact, this is what ultimately prompted the judging panel to choose Addicted to Oxygen as the winners. Throughout the contest, the judges had been leaning towards Last Call, which had a good powerful poppy sound and some nice original songs in their set. Addicted to Oxygen came out storming, but the first half of their set was simply well chosen covers, and this wasn’t enough to sway the judges from their choice. When they shifted to playing their own songs, the decision tilted in their favour. Our primary regret as judges is that we didn’t have more prizes to give out. In mean time, I know that the bands I saw probably won’t stay the course. They will break up or merge, change styles, line-ups and names (a couple were changing names right up until the show time). There were the makings of two, if not three, terrific bands from the assembled musicians, and that’s a very good ratio indeed.
Addicted to Oxygen also had the best stagecraft of the night, displaying a real sense of “working” the audience. Some of the other bands lost points for needless messing between songs, which disrupted the flow of their sets.
That said, the audience enjoyed the night thoroughly, and supported each band no matter what their tribal allegiances. That reflected a sense of community, a “we’re all in this together” attitude that will not only serve this specific group of musicians and their fans well, but also rock ‘n’ roll itself. You can find out more about the event and find links to all of the bands on http://organiser123.bebo.com.
That’s the digital connection, and it will do to be going on with. More importantly, you should make the effort to go to events like this wherever and whenever you can. It’s where you will find the true spirit of rock ‘n’ roll.
You never know, one day you might be able to say that you were there at the beginning. And it won’t be a word of a lie.
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