#WEQX #BattleOfTheBands #Pearlpalooza #MichaelHallisey #TheSpot518
ALBANY — As the radio station’s battle of the bands goes, it was a rare Friday night competition at Jupiter Hall on Aug. 10.
Set free from its usual school-night restraints — if anyone really possesses such self-control — the environment for the second round of WEQX’s Battle of the Bands competition was ripe for a large crowd and tight voting results.
In the end, it was a bunch of self-described “Misters” who looked like a grouping of your favorite uncles in a four-piece rock band that came out victorious.
Dooojj beat out a field of four local bands to advance to the final round of play later this month. The band joins Honey Suckle Vine in what will ultimately be a field of four bands vying for a single slot in next month’s Pearlpalooza on Saturday, Sept. 15.
Another quartet of bands duke it out this Thursday, Aug. 16. The winner from a field that includes Hubris Djinn, Becoming Ghost, Bendt and Talia Denis will be joined by a fourth band decided among three runner-ups from each of the previous nights in a vote. So far, those runner-up bands are Paradox Saints, from Round One, and El Modernists, from Round Two.
The awkward juxtaposition of music and competition was offset by the wonderful showcase of local talent strutting its stuff in front of fans and local promoters.
Dooojj, the final act of the night, was surrounded by an air of good ol’ fashioned
rock and roll. The lead singer was flanked by Halloween masks of a demon and an eyeball, propped up and backlit by four-foot glowsticks in front of the stage. At one point, the band’s guitar player stood upon one of the two speakers to interact with the crowd — the only musician loose or brave enough to do so.
El Modernists put on a lively punk set that could make its way onto the Jupiter Hall stage again.
