The gauntlet will be thrown and axes will cross as five Athens bands shred and thrash their way to dominance at the Battle of the Bands.
Jackie O’s Pub & Brewery, 24 W. Union St., will host the battle between local bands DadArm, Amdef, Burning River Ramblers, The Grove and Mantra.
Evan Reed, booking agent for Jackie O’s, and Chris Pokzinski, a Jackie O’s employee, will judge the event based on crowd response, originality and stage presence as these up-and-coming bands battle it out.
Burning River Ramblers was originally based out of Cleveland and gained its name from the infamous fire that has come to define the city to some.
“Two of our band members are from Athens and have grown up here all their lives, Jesse and Zach Catania,” said Conor Standish, guitarist and lead vocalist for the band. “We do a lot of traveling, but most of us are from (Cleveland).”
The Ramblers were included in The Plain Dealer’s Top 25 bands to watch in 2011 and are gathering a following because of their extensive travel across Ohio, Standish said.
The Grove is a rock trio that has been trying to increase their following in Athens during the past few years and in 2012 they released their first full-length album, Procuriosity.
“We’re very happy with how (the album) turned out,” said Adam Forsthoefel, lead singer and guitarist for the band. “It has a classic rock sound, but with a modern twist to it, and it has some good guitar solos, which I think a lot of bands today aren’t doing.”
Procuriosity has a theme of being open to new things in life and that message is reflected through the lyrics and instrumentals.
“(Procuriosity) is a word we made up,” Forsthoefel said. “It’s pretty much to be open minded about everything. Most people think it’s about drugs, but it’s not just about that, it’s about being open to new ways of thinking.”
Another rock trio, Mantra, will also perform Friday. They have one single recorded, “Ghost,” which gets its title from the feelings it evokes, said Ben Corbitt, guitarist and vocalist for the band.
“We write all the instrumental parts first and then fit in the lyrics,” Corbitt said. “That song had a creepy atmosphere to it, so it seemed like an appropriate title.”
DadArm will kick off the night at 10 p.m. with Mantra closing. The bands’ fates will be largely determined by crowd response, so all the bands are hoping for a large turnout.
wh092010@ohiou.edu
