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Local bands and artists prepare for a second round of “Face Off"
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On Friday, April 20, 10 bands will meet in the Hatch ballroom for a bloody battle to the death with the winner taking home $25,000 in raw meat! OK, perhaps that’s an exaggeration. Despite the name, Face Off 2: Communion of the Bands will not be a no-holds barred steel cage match with participants using musical instruments as weapons. Though unclipped guitar strings and flying microphone stands do have the potential to wound, the only violence going on will be of the aural variety.
In case you missed last semester’s highly successful (at least 800 people attended) inaugural Face Off, the event features ten Treasure Valley bands playing on two stages along with a gallery displaying the talent of local visual artists. As with the first event, the entire thing costs no money. That’s right, you can experience some quality original music without paying a cover charge or emptying out your wallet to the bartender.
The lineup for this semester’s event features 10 bands, none of which appeared at the last show, including some local favorites and a couple of newer acts. Actually, DJ Dublow Booty isn’t really a band, he’s a guy who will be spinning house and other dance-able records. Mad Ro is a band, but not a rock band. If you haven’t heard of them yet, you probably haven’t left your house in the last six months, since the group plastered flyers for their new hip-hop record on just about every concrete or metal surface in the city. Hot Dog Sandwich is a band, but a strange one. They play quirky punk rock and like to have a good time on stage. Substance is another local favorite, having turned a lot of heads at the Battle of the Bands the last few years with their heavy rock.
Jakked Rabbit is fairly new to the area, originally hailing from the glistening metropolis of Reno, NV. The main man behind Face Off, SPB concert coordinator Matt Vander Boegh says the Jakked Rabbit “is not your average punk band.” Vander Boegh is also a member of Danger Baby, who will be bringing their neo-glam-rock shenanigans to the show. Are they really that dangerous? Do they have the sex appeal of Mr. Big? Come out and see for yourself.
The Knifeswitch are a talented group of individuals who are alumni of such bands as S.F.L., 3 Mile Island, and Rank Review. Their music runs the gamut of styles from dense, melodic indie rock, to straight-up pop, to all-out thrash. The Shane Brown Syndrome doesn’t thrash, but they like to paste photocopies of Shane Brown’s face on everything. Formed from the ashes of the crazy rock n’ roll trio Mad Cow Disease, these guys are worth checking out.
Despite the opinion of another local weekly newspaper, Clock does not sound like Primus. They don’t look like Primus either, thank god. They do however, sound a little bit like a more upbeat Slint, and like the Beastie Boys, can rock the house party at the drop of a hat.
Also playing is Half the World, who The Arbiter knows little about except that they play heavy music with melodic vocals.
Submissions are still being accepted for the art gallery, so if you have something to share, bring it on down to the Student Programs Board by 6:00 p.m. on April 20, and according to art director Jeremy Webster, “it’ll get hung up.”
Vander Boegh says that he encourages “people to come out and support the local scene.(a band) can’t make it national if they can’t make it local.” And he’s going to try and continue the Face Off tradition next year. It sounds like we’ll have another great opportunity for even more local bands to get noticed and students to enjoy a night of cheap thrills, minus the gratuitous debauchery. Save that for Saturday night.
Face Off 2 schedule:
7:00-7:30 p.m. The Knifeswitch
7:30-8:00 Shane Brown Syndrome
8:00-8:30 DJ Dublow Booty
8:30-9;15 Half the World
9:15-9:45 Substance
9;45-10:30 Jakked Rabbit
10:30-11:00 Hot Dog Sandwich
11:00-11:30 Danger Baby
11:30-12:15 Clock
12:15-1:00 a.m. Mad Ro
jim Toweill