The second WXIN Battle of the Bands kicked off with a three-band set, free pool and a decent crowd on Thursday, Nov. 3 at RI Billiards. With the free pool being the main interest, the crowd hung in the back to enjoy the tunes of the night.
Pulling in third for the night was Silence, A Fable, featuring Gary Marqus on lead guitar and vocals, Justin Lizotte on bass and screams and Josh Thibodeau on drums. This band played a hard set that was loud, heavy and featured all the powerful drumming a metal fan would want. The instrumentals were solid, especially the lead guitarist. The screams were ok, and better than most bands that feature this style of music. However, what kept this band down was that they seemed to scare most of the crowd. A few cheers were heard from local fans.
Taking second was Please Don’t Eat My Friends, which featured Ian Dillon on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Rickie Garcia on lead guitar, Anthony Borrelli on drums and Dennis LaBonte on bass, guitar and vocals. The instrumentals in this band were solid. In the beginning of the set, they apologized to the crowd they did not have enough room to move about. This band had an alternative sound that encroached on the harder side. The only qualm I had with them was that the instruments drowned out the vocals. Overall, they won over a few in the crowd and were well received.
Grabbing first and winning the $100 prize was Jeff’s Trippin’ Out. This band featured Jeff Briere on vocals, Jim Broadfield on lead guitar and Youssef Tapozada on rhythm guitar. Although the band did win the battle, they did not win me over. The vocals seemed muddy and hard to understand. Although the actual instrumentals were good, they were there for ambiance more than anything else. Nonetheless, Jeff’s Trippin’ Out did win the battle, but this set seemed to set the tempo of the night for playing pool.
About a dozen Anchor, WXIN and Anchor TV reporters and photographers who were present at the event left during the first set when word spread that the Art Center was on fire back at the campus. Most returned when the situation at RIC was brought under control.
After Jeff’s Trippin’ Out was announced as the winner, The Anchor was able to get an exclusive interview with the band.
Anchor Newspaper: So very exciting stuff, but could you tell me when you put this band together?
Jeff Briere: Well, the band we started in 2004.
AN: Wow, that long? Cool, what would you say would be the reason to start? Was it something with school?
JB: Well, we all had the musical desire. We were in other bands before but our energy all seemed to combine and there we go.
AN: Who would you say would be your musical inspiration?
JB: I’m not sure who is my inspiration, but I would say the inspiration would be my life experiences.
AN: How did you come up with your name?
JB: I’m really not sure. It was something someone said and it just stuck. Oh, and the Egyptian song that we play, we wrote that because of him (Youssef Tapozada). We wrote it because he escaped on the last plane out of the country before the revolution started. He escaped it and came here so that is the story behind that one.
Overall, the bands were ok, but this wasn’t my favorite show. I will be looking forward to the WXIN Rock Hunt that will be coming up in the spring semester, but until then, look for more WXIN events because they are always a blast. The third and final WXIN Battle of the Bands event of the semester is scheduled for Dec. 8 at RI Billiards, with bands to be announced.
