Post by Bret Walker on Feb 24, 2003 13:47:32 GMT -5
Battle of the Bands 2003
Unlike Joe Millionaire, I won't keep you all in suspense. We didn't win last night.
That's not to say that last night wasn't a great night. We got to see some awesome bands (one of which I've wanted to see live for a couple years and never had the opportunity to do so), every one of which I would have put in front of us in the voting. So I don't feel slighted that we were not chosen among the top three bands to move on, but I did feel a bit disappointed that we were out so early in the competition. Ask JBG. I had that same depression that I had last summer when MtD lost in the fourth round of the Local Loco Bracket for WGLS. But then again, we made it to the fourth round there, and lost in the first round last night.
But enough of that. I was thinking today that there have been some pretty talented people who have lost in their lives, and that what set them apart from others who lost is how they handled the loss. Look at John Elway, for example. He lost the Super Bowl twice before he won it, and each time people speculated that he didn't have what it took to take the Broncos to victory. But then he busted through. It took time, but he never gave up.
So I'm trying to approach our loss last night in that way. How do we handle the loss? How do we move on from here? Well to begin with, we have a show on Friday at Brenner's Brew. It's not a competition, so there won't be any pressure to perform. We're just going out to have some fun. And by the way, my eleven year-old daughter will be in the audience for the first time. Yes, I've relented and allowed her to come to one of my shows. It's a coffeehouse, after all. But she's excited to be going to one of my shows, and I guess I think it's pretty cool, too.
Make sure you check out our Past Shows page, and check out the other four bands that we went up against. The winners last night were Badon Hill, Crosscheck (the band I've wanted to see live), and the big winner for the night, Desiderata, who it turns out is from Glassboro. I have to tell you, I think all three definitely deserved to move on. The fourth band was Head of the Snake, who I believe tied with Badon Hill but ultimately lost because of the tiebreaker (advance ticket sales). They were all awesome, but Desiderata was far and away the best band of the night, and the crowd showed it, chanting "One more song! One more song!" at the end of their set. Incredible.
So what happened with MtD? It was me. Pure and simple. The Justins were tight as hell, and we all had a lot of energy for the show despite the fact that we went on last, almost 11:00 PM. The problem was, my voice conched out about midway through Eleanor Rigby, and my hands started to cramp up (what the fuck is up with that?) and I couldn't play chords or even hold a pick. I kept dropping picks, and then I'd play with my fingers, and then the E string kept popping out of the nut (which has NEVER happened before). I was completely frustrated and flustered, and I knew that we were going to lose, and I knew it was because of ME. I took it very personally, too. But like I said, as disappointed as I was to lose last night, I know that the bands that won were DEFINITELY worth it, and did not win based on my shitty performance.
Well. So it's over. There's always next year, and we'll have been together a lot longer by then. And maybe I'll figure out why my voice keeps failing and my hands keep cramping up. But for now, we're looking forward to the Brenner's Brew show. Hope to see you all there! ;D
Unlike Joe Millionaire, I won't keep you all in suspense. We didn't win last night.
That's not to say that last night wasn't a great night. We got to see some awesome bands (one of which I've wanted to see live for a couple years and never had the opportunity to do so), every one of which I would have put in front of us in the voting. So I don't feel slighted that we were not chosen among the top three bands to move on, but I did feel a bit disappointed that we were out so early in the competition. Ask JBG. I had that same depression that I had last summer when MtD lost in the fourth round of the Local Loco Bracket for WGLS. But then again, we made it to the fourth round there, and lost in the first round last night.
But enough of that. I was thinking today that there have been some pretty talented people who have lost in their lives, and that what set them apart from others who lost is how they handled the loss. Look at John Elway, for example. He lost the Super Bowl twice before he won it, and each time people speculated that he didn't have what it took to take the Broncos to victory. But then he busted through. It took time, but he never gave up.
So I'm trying to approach our loss last night in that way. How do we handle the loss? How do we move on from here? Well to begin with, we have a show on Friday at Brenner's Brew. It's not a competition, so there won't be any pressure to perform. We're just going out to have some fun. And by the way, my eleven year-old daughter will be in the audience for the first time. Yes, I've relented and allowed her to come to one of my shows. It's a coffeehouse, after all. But she's excited to be going to one of my shows, and I guess I think it's pretty cool, too.
Make sure you check out our Past Shows page, and check out the other four bands that we went up against. The winners last night were Badon Hill, Crosscheck (the band I've wanted to see live), and the big winner for the night, Desiderata, who it turns out is from Glassboro. I have to tell you, I think all three definitely deserved to move on. The fourth band was Head of the Snake, who I believe tied with Badon Hill but ultimately lost because of the tiebreaker (advance ticket sales). They were all awesome, but Desiderata was far and away the best band of the night, and the crowd showed it, chanting "One more song! One more song!" at the end of their set. Incredible.
So what happened with MtD? It was me. Pure and simple. The Justins were tight as hell, and we all had a lot of energy for the show despite the fact that we went on last, almost 11:00 PM. The problem was, my voice conched out about midway through Eleanor Rigby, and my hands started to cramp up (what the fuck is up with that?) and I couldn't play chords or even hold a pick. I kept dropping picks, and then I'd play with my fingers, and then the E string kept popping out of the nut (which has NEVER happened before). I was completely frustrated and flustered, and I knew that we were going to lose, and I knew it was because of ME. I took it very personally, too. But like I said, as disappointed as I was to lose last night, I know that the bands that won were DEFINITELY worth it, and did not win based on my shitty performance.
Well. So it's over. There's always next year, and we'll have been together a lot longer by then. And maybe I'll figure out why my voice keeps failing and my hands keep cramping up. But for now, we're looking forward to the Brenner's Brew show. Hope to see you all there! ;D
) but in all honesty, I don't think it was that bad. 
). Other than his voice cracking, I didn't notice much of the pick dropping or other issues he had. And Tony asked if I noticed he dropped a stick... no, I didn't, but I noticed he forgot some backup vocals 
? That is basically saying we were worth 4 points. Needless to say we lost. Had he given us a 64 we would have won. I swore I would never do that kind of thing again. I'm glad that the bands last night enjoyed our set (the feeling was mutual), but there have been plenty of times when it didnt shape up like that. We have been called everything from Wiggers to Limp Bizkit wannabe's (my personal least favorite). I try to just roll with it and do what makes me happy. 
