The Boardwalk Spring 2024 Battle of the Bands – Night 4

_{By Jeremy Thacker}

Last night brought us the last preliminary night of the Boardwalk’s Spring Battle of the Bands. Four eager bands competed for the chance to return either tomorrow night for “ultimate runners-up” night, or Saturday night for the finals.

In my personal experience, the last preliminary nights of a BOTB are usually the hardest. You can start to see fatigue setting in; the crowd’s a little more sparse; the energy isn’t as high; and the bands have to really up the showmanship to really pull them in. This rang especially true at the beginning of the night, as a smaller crowd and a couple of problems delayed the beginning of the show. Thankfully the bands that performed tonight rose to the challenge and ended up giving us a night full of great energy and even greater music.

Leetham

Leetham was the first band to kick off the night. A trio consisting of a vocalist/keys, a guitarist, and a drummer, this is a group with a lot of potential. They were the most pop oriented group of the night and had some really great, clean tones.

The set started off a little timid. I’m not sure if it was jitters from being the first band to perform or if they were thrown off by the audience still filtering in, but during the first couple of songs it felt more like a practice session that the crowd just happened to be observing. Between that and the fact that the crowd seemed to have a bit of fatigue, you could feel a divide between the stage and the audience. Luckily the band realized very early on and started playing to the crowd and utilizing sing-alongs to bring the involvement back up.

Additionally while their tones were really tuned in, I think they relied a little too much on the backing track. In future sets I’d really love to see them ease off the backing track a bit and let the live instruments shine through.

New Sequel

Nate Baldwin, another judge seated next to me, described New Sequel as “a lovechild between Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine”. It’s genuinely the best description I can think of, especially for their first song. Their tones and melodies reminded me of “Sabotage” right off the bat, and while they had some moments that were a bit muddy it kind of lent itself more towards the genre.

Where Leetham started their set a little timid, New Sequel started with the most crowd involvement of the night. Their first song began with frontman Jack Wright at the top of the stairs, playing an awesome guitar lick as he descended to the stage. From there they began a song about how awesome Godzilla is while somebody in an inflatable dinosaur costume came out and started dancing and throwing glow sticks. This Godzilla was soon joined by King Kong, and before we knew it New Sequel’s song became the backing track to a brawl between the two movie monsters.

If I were to give advice to New Sequel it’d actually be that the costumes and fight, while very memorable, were unnecessary. They’ve already got a lot of charisma and know how to work a crowd. But the fight has the potential to really distract from the music, and when people go home you want them to remember the music you played more than the gimmicks.

Eyes Buggy

It’s hard to describe Eyes Buggy. Their set had some of the pop and rock influences that you’d expect in the Utah scene, but there were also jazz influences, soul, folk, R&B, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I actually asked the band how they’d define their genre after the show, and I love the answer they gave me: they don’t. Rather, they focus on what story they want to tell and find a sound that fits it.

Eyes Buggy had a lot of great ideas but I think they had some unfortunate sound issues that stalled their energy somewhat. For example, the bassist and guitarist switched off lead vocals a lot. This made for a really interesting contrast between the different songs, but I felt like each time they did it would take a minute for the new vocalist to find their footing again. Their arrangements didn’t always feel balanced either – I’m a sucker for a saxophone, and was really disappointed to find that it had a tendency to get lost in the mix. None of these issues detracted from the performance in a meaningful way, but they’re something to watch out for during their next show.

Viridian

Viridian is out of this world. Literally. The band came out wearing alien masks and played a set that was the most polished of the night. A really solid rock band, I’m seriously invested in seeing this band’s growth. There’s so much potential.

I really appreciated the alien masks as a fun gimmick that brought some aesthetic to the band, but in a way that didn’t distract from the music. It was a great way to pique the crowd’s interest before hooking them in with their music. I felt like everyone in Viridian had small moments to shine, with my personal favorite being the saxophone solo. These moments were really fun for the audience, but you could tell the band was having a good time up on stage as well. They came on with a lot of confidence and authority, had a good time up on stage, and the audience loved them for it.

Results

I want to stress that all four bands tonight should be proud of their performances. Despite some initial setbacks they all powered through and showcased some killer music. Unfortunately, there has to be a winner. This was an EXTREMELY close call that I believe came down to a one point difference, but after some deliberation from our judges Viridian was awarded second place and New Sequel were declared the victors and will be moving on to finals night.

Tonight at 7 PM is the The Boardwalk’s first-ever “Ultimate Runner-Up Night!” You’ll be able to catch Awakening Autumn, Samuel Charles Band, Internet Lover Boys, and Viridian as they compete for another chance to join finals night on Saturday. While you wait, break out your inflatable t-rex costume, fight a giant gorilla, and check out “Godzilla” by New Sequel below!