The sweat was dripping and the amps were turned up to 11 as five bands competed at The Levee for the third annual Battle of the Bands. The FUSA-sponsored event is notorious for drawing crowds through prizes rather than music.
The Logan Groovers, Jaime Flores, Shake N’ Bake, Delta 9 and the Flow, and A Pair of Kings rocked the dull crowd as hard as they could Friday night, eventually leading up to the announcement of the grand prize winners.
The five acts were each allotted 15 minutes of stage time to attempt to impress the crowd of 30 people.
Acts such as Logan Groovers, Shake N’ Bake, and Delta Nine and the Flow had the place rocking, while the acoustic acts Jamie Flores and A Pair of Kings both took the rocking down a notch for their stripped down sets.
Cover band Shake N’ Bake took home the gold Friday, walking out with a gift certificate to Guitar Center. The band includes juniors Joey Balzano on guitar, Marcello De Pascale on drums, Mike Gambardella on vocals and Ken O’Donohue on bass. They won the crowd over playing classics like AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long” and Stone Temple Pilots’ “Interstate Love Song.”
“We were surprised that we won,” said Balzano. “The other bands were just as tight as us; we had some real stiff competition.”
But the turnout wasn’t impressive, at least compared to last year.
“Last year’s Battle of the Bands was held much earlier, so everyone went,” said De Pascale. “I’d say that holding it at 9 p.m. this year instead of the usual 7 p.m. really hurt it.”
But members of Shake N’ Bake said the turnout did not bother them. The night was all about having fun and playing for a large group of friends along with other great bands.
“Tonight won’t make a difference. Joey doesn’t have any problems getting tail,” said De Pascale.
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