The winner of the 2002 Battle of the Bands this weekend, The Honey’s, will be headlining at “The Big Free Concert,” May 10 on the South Oval.
Of the 50 bands contending, seven finalists competed Friday at Woody’s Place in the Ohio Union. Bands were evaluated on originality, musicality, stage presence and crowd appeal.
The Honey’s were one of two groups headed by a female and head vocalist Tiffany Evens was energetic. Other band members were Tony Nguyen (guitar), Dan Bell (drums), Caleb Bandy on (guitar), and Oren Shai (bass). They were a good band, but it was surprising that they placed first.
“It was a good time,” Nguyen said. “We were pleased with the crowd size.”
The Honey’s play regularly at Bernies, Oldfields and Little Brothers.
The Jeremy Richter Effort was the first band of the evening. Jeremy Richter was captivating on piano, and a real entertainer. He led other members Tom Redd (bass) and Reagen Redfern (drums) in the performance. Their sound could be compared to Ben Folds.
“The Jeremy Richter Effort was my favorite,” said Keren Jenkins, an audience member. “They are different without having the guitar.”
The Soul-Fu Villains had an original sound. This group consisted of a saxophone, trombone and trumpet player in addition to the usual guitar, bass and drums, and vocalist. Their powerful horn section was unusual when mixed with their otherwise hip-hop style. Their last album, “The Nappy Mans Guide to Living,” was a hit and they are working on another.
“We wanted to do a lot of new stuff not on our record,” said Numeric, the lead vocalist.
Soul-Fu plays every Thursday at Barrister Hall.
Another group with a lot of talent was Stonevelvet. Drums, bass and two guitar players accompanied the lead singer, with a voice that sounds like Gwen Stefani. She sang with great inflection like Stefani but lacked the stage presence. They will be performing at the Northberg Tavern on March 8.
Other bands competing included The Spiker-Konesky Band, Fire, and the Woosley Band. Spiker-Konesky brought along its own following that gathered in front of the stage. They play next at Little Brothers on March 8.
Fire sounded like the Grateful Dead. The long-haired band, consisting of a drummer, keyboardist, three guitarists and a tambourine, is more of a jam band than performers.
The Woosley Band was the last to perform. They had an All-American rock sound and it was obvious that they really love to play.
The five judges consisted of DJs Tom Butler and Rudy Gerdemna, who host Independent Playground on CD101, DJ Fat Johnny from Local Stuff on The Blitz, Manish Lamba, a sophomore in engineering and a Ohio Union activities committee member, and Kevin Verberike, a junior in marketing, who was chosen from the audience.
“There’s not anything repetitive,” Manish said. “There’s a whole variety of different sounds.”
