WHUS Radio, the University of Connecticut’s student-run radio station, hosted its annual Battle of the Bands concerts on Saturday, Feb. 15, in the Student Union Ballroom. The show featured four Connecticut bands duking it out in a competition for the ages, with energetic performances from each band.
The event was structured so that two bands would play their sets and the audience would pick which band they liked better. After two rounds of this, the remaining two bands played an additional set. To determine the winning band in each round, the crowd was encouraged to yell in support of what band they wanted to move on. The band that was determined to have gotten the loudest reaction moved on to the final round.
The night started off with The Rotting Twentys, an alternative rock group based in Storrs, Conn. The group’s set featured two originals and two covers, highlighted by their closing rendition of “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains. The four-piece band played with a ton of groove, with their rhythm section rolling along. This, combined with atmospheric guitar chords and soaring, anthemic vocals started off the night on a high note as the crowd slowly rolled in and warmed up to the music.
Next up was 2/14, an emo rock band from New York City. The three-piece group hit the ground running, wasting no time as they turned their amps up to 11 with their high-octane sound. Though they only had one guitarist, Sky Carlson’s guitar made it sound like there were multiple people wielding six-string beasts.
2/14 combined fast pop-punk style riffs with on-the-fly tempo changes that were “smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy,” as the great Bruno Mars once quipped. The crowd also began clapping along during the buildups of two of their songs, which was the biggest audience participation of the night so far.
After their set, Sophia Curran, the general manager of WHUS Radio, took to the stage to poll the crowd about who would be moving on. After a couple of tries to get the crowd into it, 2/14 was chosen as the winner of round one, moving on to the finals.
The second round kicked off with Braintree, who describes their sound as “evil wizard punk.” With “Godzilla” clips playing on the projector in the background, the band stormed on stage with their cover of “Gila Monster” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.
This bold choice of a set opener worked greatly in their favor, as the crowd began moshing and two-stepping to the thunderous beat — though the moshing was soon shut down by event security. The band rocked through the rest of their set with a mix of fuzz-laden guitar, rumbling basslines and energetic shouted vocals.
Following Braintree was Elizabory, a band that labels themselves as “mental breakdown metal.” Armed with a wall of sound, frontperson Icez Killz took control of the stage with a commanding performance, combining powerful vocals and screaming. The band behind them was locked in to a T, with their guitarist and bassist playing synchronized heavy riffs as their drummer hammered away in perfect time.
Curran returned to the stage again, joined this time by WHUS Radio’s Operations Manager Gill Brown, to poll the crowd to see who won this round. After more yelling from the audience, Braintree was selected as the winner of the second round, creating a final round of 2/14 versus Braintree to crown the winner.
In the final round, each band got to play another four-song set. Though the crowd had thinned out substantially at this point, those who stuck around continued to keep the energy up, two-stepping and dancing along. Both bands gave it their all in the final rounds, pushing through to deliver passionate sets to sway the crowd to their sides.
After one final poll of the crowd and more yelling, Braintree was declared the winner of this year’s Battle of the Bands. The group joins a stacked list of recent winners of the event, which includes Stattic and Ruby Leftstep. The crowd quickly dispersed at the end of the three-hour event, concluding a night featuring electric performances by four rising groups in the Connecticut music scene.