Mahaffey’s Dolls

Last week, you could feel it in the air.  Even Mother Nature joined in our Battle of the Bands as rain poured down on the Emerald City.  We experienced casualties before the first beat of the drum.  Jesse Fox dropped out at the last minute after their drummer threw his back out over the weekend.  Waves of Mind also suffered a band member injury, but took to the stage anyway.  Despite the set backs, the event was fun – as it always is. 

Battle of the Bands judges – Josh Powell, Greg Garcia and Pete Greenburg

When the show began at 9:30, the judges were all settled in with clipboard in hand ready to rate each performance on composition, arrangement, creativity, originality, musicianship and audience satisfaction.  The judging panel consisted of Joshua Powell, Program Director of The Vera Project; Pete Greenberg, Talent Buyer at Chop Suey; Greg Garcia, Talent Buyer at Tractor Tavern; and Rachel Ratner, DJ at KEXP and member of Partman Parthorse. 

What What Now

It was a throw down from the get go.  Mahaffey’s Dolls kicked off the show with their alternative indie rock.  Next up was Black Science with their psychedelic transdimensional sounds.  Waves of the Mind got the crowd moving and even sought audience input to show off their freestyle rap, a dramatic difference to the thrash metal rock of Slackhabit.  Fat Cat rocked the stage and their wardrobe.  What What Now provided an interesting contrast of hoarse vocals and poppy melody.  WormWood closed out the show with their hip-hop beats.  When they picked up the mic they drew the crowd away from the bar and up to the stage.

Airpocalypse

While the evening was all about the bands proving their musicality, Airpocalypse stole the show.  The trio of air guitar artists featuring our very own Jason Cheung from University Pizzeria performed between a couple of sets.  The combination of passionate pantomime and eighties spandex won the crowd and the judges needed to be reminded that they could not vote for Airpocalypse.

WormWood – This year’s champions!

When the dust finally settled and the speakers stopped vibrating, it was WormWood who walked away victorious with trophy, title and 2 days of recording studio time at Bear Creek Studios.  Congratulations WormWood!  And a big thanks to Vera Project who received a $5000 donation at the end of the night.

Black Science

Waves of the Mind

Slackhabit

Fat Cat

Nestled in the trees of Woodinville sits a converted turn of the century barn.  It is here where this year’s winner of Pagliacci’s annual Battle of the Bands will spend a few precious days recording in the relaxed atmosphere of an established and well-known recording studio.  The 10-acre estate sits in the wilderness complete with recording studio, bedding accommodations, and a remodeled 1920′s farmhouse situated just across the way. There’s no way this year’s winner couldn’t draw from some deeper inspiration brought on by the serene and utter beauty of this recording studio. Over the years the staff of Bear Creek Studio (a staff boasted on their website to be comprised of employees with over thirty years of experience) have seen a number of bands enter their barn doors virtual unknowns and leave with records that would go on to make them stars. Some of the artists to have recorded at Bear Creek Studio are: Ra Ra Riot and their recent release The Rhumb Line, The Fleet Foxes recent EP Sun Giant, and past successes like local artists The Gossip and their album Standing in the Way of Control and Bainbridge Island’s very own Holy Ghost Revival and their album Bleeding Light.  Not to mention bands like Modest Mouse, Foo Fighters and Soundgarden.  The question now remains which of this year’s Battle of the Bands contestants will go on to follow this line of success?  The grand prize of 24 pre-paid hours of recording studio time at Bear Creek Studio is quite an incentive! Will it be Black Science, FatCat, Jesse Fox, Mahaffey’s Dolls, Slackhabit, Waves of the Mind, What What Now, or WormWood? To be there when the winner is crowned, join us at Neumo’s on May 4th at 9pm.

For more information about Bear Creek Studio and the services they provide, visit their official website at http://www.bearcreekstudio.com.

-Daniel Calderon

I went to high school in Gig Harbor just across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  It’s a beautiful little town but it can be really boring when you’re a 16 year-old vegan, punk rock, know-it-all.  Luckily for me and my friends, the Vera Project was a car ride away.

The Vera Project has changed venues since then, and is now located on Warren Ave N. and Republican in Seattle Center.  Many Seattleites have heard of Vera because a number of mainstream bands have played there as well as our some of our friends and neighbors.  But for those of you who don’t know let me introduce you to Seattle’s longest running all-ages club.

Picture a place where young people can help create a welcoming and exciting place for their peers through volunteer work. A place where they can express themselves through music and art. Oh and by the way, this place is a non-profit, alcohol-free and smoke-free environment. It may seem like every parent’s dream, but it’s also many teenager’s dream! In all seriousness though, the Vera Project is an awesome venue where rock and roll transcends age and engages the community of Seattle and beyond.

The Pagliacci community is one in particular that has embraced the Vera Projects’ ability to put on a great event. When we first set out to hold our Battle of the Bands competition four years ago, we were in over our heads. Lucky for us, Garrett Lunceford, a past crew member at Queen Anne Pizzeria and guitarist for the band formerly known as The Divorce, recommended that we work with Vera Project to get the job done.  Since then Pagliacci has pledged to donate all of the Battle of the Band’s proceeds to Vera Project in an effort to support the goodwill that they promote in our community and the young talents that they inspire.

Check out their website to get a list of up and coming shows, bands and events!

http://www.theveraproject.org/

I am always amazed at how many of our crewmembers are in bands.  I guess you could say our flexible hours make Pagliacci a haven for many aspiring musicians.  Some take time off to tour and play in notable music festivals like Austin’s SXSW or our very own Bumbershoot.  A few have even had a brush with fame.  Imagine my surprise when watching SNL in January and seeing a former Bridle Trails crewmember playing with Fleet Foxes (although not a current member of the band).  There is even an urban legend that a member of Pearl Jam once applied at one of our pizzerias in the early 90’s.  Ironically, the story goes that he was not hired because he required too much time off to tour with his band.

It seems like every time I visit a store, someone is bragging about how great his or her band is.  Four years ago we decided to ask them to prove it by throwing our first ever Battle of the Bands.  Our criterion for consideration of playing at our event is simple – at least one band member needs to work at Pagliacci.  Every year we have the daunting task of selecting just eight bands to play.  Here is this year’s line up:

      9:00 pm – Mahaffey’s Dolls

      9:30 pm – Jesse Fox
         

      10:00 pm – Black Science

      10:30 pm – Waves of the Mind

      11:00 pm – Slackhabit

      11:30 pm – FatCat

      12:00 am – What What Now

      12:30 am – WormWood


The prize is noteworthy for any aspiring young band – two days of recording studio time at Woodinville’s Bear Creek Studio. 

Join us at Neumo’s in Capitol Hill next Monday, May 4th.  Tickets are $5 at the door with the proceeds donated to Vera Project.  Doors open at 8 pm.  The battle begins at 9 pm.      

Last year's winners, Rad Touch, at the recording studio.