On Friday July 8, the city of Beaconsfield will be holding its seventh annual Battle of the Bands, which invites local bands to compete against each other for the winning title.
The event begins at 6 p.m. at Centennial Park, however if the weather does not permit for an outdoor show, the venue will be changed to the Beaconsfield auditorium. There will also be a barbecue with hotdogs and hamburgers for sale.
The bands making up this year's competition are: Static Kings, Challenger Deep, The Five Peace, Blank Bullets and Inkspot. Battle of the Bands organizer Kristina Timms says that every year, she sees a wide range of music genres ranging from Punk and Ska to Indie Rock. She says that everyone, regardless of the type of music they listen to, can appreciate the talent on stage.
“Everyone has different taste in music, but they can't argue with the talent they see, regardless of the genre they are into,” she said.
Timms says the main focus of the Battle of the Bands is to give the youth of the West Island a chance to be inspired and express themselves musically. Each band in the competition is comprised of members aged 13 to 21.
“It's too bad because there aren't too many opportunities for youth to be inspired anymore and we want to give them that opportunity,” she said. “What's great about this is that the bands are all made up of 13 to 21 year olds. I'm a firm believer that there aren't enough events geared to the youth of the West Island.”
Although bands are allowed to play covers during the competition, most write original songs. The bands are scored on their originality by a panel of judges comprised of people in the music industry. This year, the judges include two people from LoudGuitars, an online music organization, and one member of Thickblooded, last year's winner.
The judges will also be scoring the bands on tightness, vocals, audience appreciation, and difficulty. The winners will be awarded passes to the Osheaga Festival and studio recording time sponsored by LoudGuitars.
The selection process for the bands that play each year comprises of collecting demo cds and listening to them. The organizers pick their favourite bands to perform. Timms says that when the Battle of the Bands first began, they didn't have to be as selective, but with the growing popularity of the event, she has been flooded with entry submissions.
“For the past two years, we've had more bands sign up than we can put on stage, so we just pick our favourite ones,” she said. “It’s a beautiful thing and I'm so happy with the response, but it sucks that we can't let them all play. At the same time its great because the bands just get better and better every year.”
Every year, the winner of the previous year's competition is invited to perform again to help keep them inspired.
“We're going to have last year's winner return to perform,” said Timms. “It gives them an incentive to stay true to their band and continue to move forward with their music.”
For more information on Beaconsfield's Battle of the Bands, call 514-428-4480.
