It was a perfect sunny day on the campus of Oregon State University for the 2009 Battle of the Bands. It wasn’t too hot and it wasn’t raining, which is a miracle in itself here in the Northwest. I had been on a emotional roller coaster from a mellow enlightenment furnished by the Reggae Rockers to a spiraling journey into metal mania at the mercy Of Saints and Shadow’s blistering axes now to enter a glimpse into that world from after with a Celtic punk infusion from Poitin and Stout.

Poitin and Stout was the largest band of the battle filling the stage with a variety of modern and uniquely Celtic instruments. PAS played a good set and while interpretive hula dancing was missing there was a regular hula dancer that introduced herself to the crowd.

Oxbow Drive brought the crowd back from the pubs of Ireland to a classic college rock experience and extracting from the crowd the first interpretive tennis ball dancing troupe of the night (perhaps ever). Oxbow certainly gathered a more diverse crowd as their music was more in the vein of the average attendee but they rose above standards with a smashing cover of Kate Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” and a cowbell mohawk collaboration from the drummer of both Target for Tomorrow and Honest to Empire (perhaps the only man busier that night than the stage crew).

Having passed the mid-point, we’ve had a guest appearance from Lady Gaga, interpretive hulas and tennis balls and a Kate Perry cover, what else could you ask for?! Break As We Fall opened strong with a cover of Queen’s classic “Fat Bottomed Girls” marked not by a Freddie Mercury classic spandex jumpsuit but Kanye West motif with a Jack Johnson sound. I thought lead vocals provided by Evan Churchill were perhaps the most captivating of the night.

Playing only their third show together, Pseudoboss brought an extremely entertaining blend of classic and modern rock. All greats have the knack for making the difficult tasks of their trade seem effortless, PSB has mastered the dark art in music of knowing how and when to manipulate diametric elements to forge timeless songs. If they don’t have all of “it” they are well on their way to making the discovery, apparently the judges agreed as PSB was awarded the OSU:BOB title for 2009. (more from hurdcore on PSB here; previous interview with Noah here)

See comments on OSU:BOB ‘09 (Bands 1-4) here

Tags: Corvallis, Special Event

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 7th, 2009 at 4:22 pm and is filed under From the Scene, Oregon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.