Back in the 80s. a certain British pop band once proclaimed “Everybody Wants to Rule The World.”

Twenty-five years later, over 60 local Indy bands will gather in a bar on the other side of the world to make their case on why they should rule the Indy Music Scene.  In a contest spanning several months and mostly determined by fan votes, only one question remains:

Whose side are you one?

Indy’s biggest annual battle of the bands contest continued last Friday, featuring seven new acts making their case one why they should be #1, all the while breathing more life into our ever-growing music scene.  Whether you’re into hip-hop, sample-heavy electronica, or just straight up rock n’ roll, Battle of Birdy’s is for you.

The rules are simple: each band gets a 30-minute set.  Winners are determined by fan votes and annonymous judges (about 70% fan and 30% judge).  Those who paid the $7 cover got a ballot to vote for a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place band with points awarded based on how they voted (1st=5 points, 2nd=3, 3rd=1).  A lot of talent goes on display, but only two can move on to the next round.  Time to find out who’s the next act to join the ranks of bands like Xero Sum and Glass Halo.  Alter Ego’s Myles B. serves as the emcee for this year’s battle.  After welcoming the crowd, he introduces us to a man by the name of James Dinkins, better known as Mistavudu.

Not having been to Battle of Birdy’s before in my life, I had no idea what to expect.  I figured this was a strictly rock n’ roll showcase.  So imagine my surprise to find out that Mistavudu is not a band, but instead, a solo trip-hop artist whose backing music was a CD player.  While I’m not the biggest rap fan in the world, it is nice to expand my music horizons.  The performance?  It mostly spoke for itself.  Performing first has its difficulties, and performing in a bar at 8:00 p.m. is even more difficult.  Why?  Because it’s pretty much impossible to get any kind of reaction from only a handful of people in attendance that are either there for another act or are just more interested in drinking than enjoying music.

But what did he think of his performance?

“My performance overall was less than average for myself,” said Mistavudu, “but more so than anything, man I’m having a great time.”

While the 38-year-old trip-hop artist felt disappointed with his performance, he does realize what it’s all about in the end.

“You know, as a performer, you may do good or you may not as far as your own critique of yourself,” he said, “but you more so wanna just come out, and again, just have a good time, man.”

I’m starting to wonder why there aren’t very many people here (besides the obvious small venue reason).  Then I realized it was only 8:30 p.m., and let’s face it, who goes to a bar before 10:00 anyway?  Though for the maybe 12 people in attendance right now, roughly half seem to be here for one band.

Which now brings us to Sady, a band once docked points in a previous battle for reasons I still can’t comprehend.  It wasn’t that they rocked the place too hard and left it in ruins or insulted the owner or even played the wrong kind of music.  Rather, it was the way they were dressed.  Something the judges said “made them look like a college jam band.”  No worries now.  This is a new battle.  They won’t be judge on such ridiculous criteria this time around (unless fans decide to).

With Sady, we’re now back in familiar rock territory.  Birdy’s is starting to show a little more life (even though most of their support was from friends/girlfriends/etc.)  With their rock n’ roll sound, a shout-out to the late Stevie Ray Vaughn and a toast to the rest of their competition, Sady already looks like a heavy favorite.

By nature, battles are always unpredictable.  Ever the humble musician, Bo Arthur knows what’s up.

“If you win, you win,” said Arthur.  “If you lose, you bow out, but if you win you give respect to those who bust their ass day in and day out to do what it is that we do on stage.”

Though that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind moving on to the next round.

“It would mean a lot,” he said.  “It just means…hard work, dedication, just pushing through and perseverance.  The same as any other band…put in the blood, sweat and tears per se and just move on.  I mean, it’s just something for a group of brothers to get together and play.  Have people enjoy it, and just have that many people like it before you can move on.  It would be great.”

One thing I’ve noticed about battles?  The people often seem very territorial.  It’s to be understood.  They’re there to support their favorite band.  Most of the ones here so far seem to be camped out in their own corners to show their support with other like-minded patrons.  Enough about this, let’s move on to the next band.

Two acts in and the bar has already been raised.  Only a veteran local act with a great sound and undying support from their fan base could take on the challenge set before them.

Enter the Tyler Bender Band, a five-piece alternative/indie band that hasn’t played in front of an audience since March.  A year ago, they took the first round of Battle of Birdy’s with the most fan votes and judge points.  Unfortunately their run ended in the second round.

“It was a bad time slot for us,” said Ryan Billingsley, bassist for TBB.

That being said, there was only one thing to do:

“We’re giving it another go,” said Billingsley, “hopefully we’ll get a little further than we did last year.”

With one year of this under their belts, they didn’t look like a nervous rock band in the biggest battle of the bands contest in the state.  Rather, they looked like a cool, confident band poised to make a deep run in this year’s contest.

“I think last year was a lot more stressful.  It was the first time we were doing it,” said Billingsley.  “So it was a lot of just anxiety, like we really wanted to do well.  We didn’t know how we were going to stack up against other bands, and I think this time around we’re just having more fun with it.”

And their overall performance?

“I think it was a good show,” said Billingsley.  “Typically we bring a lot of energy.  I think we actually played a great set.”

Was it enough to move on?  We’ll find out later.  For now, let’s move on to the next act.

Montauk Monsters is up next, and it’s time to shake things up.  Already we’ve seen two rock bands and a trip-hop artist, but a sample-heavy rock/electronica trio?  Along with their laptop and keys, they also have guitars and basses.  For a night of mostly rock, they were definitely the strangest up until this point.

In terms of moving on, this statement was offered:

“I really just came to play some music and have fun,” said Ben Bledsoe of Montauk Monsters, “but if we move on, that’s extra bonus.”

Standing next to the bar most of the night, it was hard to miss anyone walking into the bar.  It was even harder to miss one group of guys whose metallic paint from the Affliction-style shirts they wore seemed brighter than the moon in the sky that night.  We’ve now come to the fifth act of the night: a somewhat-heavy rock n’ roll quartet.  As most of you have already figured out, I’m a fan of heavy music.  Let’s see what they can do.

In hearing them, it’s easy to figure out where their influences lie: a kind of Led Zeppelin meets Avenged Sevenfold (guitarist Addison Lusby even had what looked like the Synyster Gates guitar).

Heck, they even have the same swagger.

“(Moving on would be) pretty nice,” said Addison Lusby, “but I’d feel even better winning the second round.  Not to be cocky or arrogant, I just hope (we do).”

Hey, they did make out of the first round in the past.  We’ll find out later how they did.

It happens every show.  There’s always that one band that sticks out more than that supermodel at a Suicide Silence show.  A band who’s almost as chaotic as it is melodic.  I’m a big fan of bands like Coheed & Cambria and The Chariot, but a band that combines all these elements?  Sounds crazy.

Actually, it sounds more like Sins of Alchemy, a five-piece prog/metal band determined to “make you piss your pants.”

Did they succeed?

Even before playing they’ve caught the attention of everyone in attendance (which has significantly grown since Mistavudu took the stage at 8:00) with their singer being the only one with a mohawk.  Now after taking the stage they’re doing it in another way:

By performing songs so long that even Maynard James Keenan (and one of my Tool-obsessed friends from high school) would be proud of.  Maybe it was that.  Maybe it was Dale’s (their drummer) August Burns Red-inspired “beat the China cymbal as much as you can” style.  Maybe it was their seemless transition between high-pitched melodic vocals and metal screams.  Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like this was the Birdy’s crowd’s cup of Long Island iced tea (then again, most metal bands aren’t).  Nevertheless, they looked confident, seemed to enjoy themselves and (of course) made sure everyone knew who they were, whether we wanted to or not.

Sins of Alchemy was not available for comment, mostly because I couldn’t find them anywhere.

Now we’ve reached the final act of the night.  The face that it’s now after midnight and I’ve been awake since 5:00 a.m. is starting to take its toll.  Fatigue is starting to set in, but I need to see this last act.  Bring on #7.

#7 turns out to be a hip-hop trio by the name of s.a.i.n.t. RECON.  Actually, only two of them sing, while the other is one of the best funk bassists this side of Flea.  Now the rest:

In keeping up with the current trend of the night, they ooze confidence.  So much so that they bet $1 everyone in attendance likes them before they leave (Ace One saying it was done so he could afford gas money).  Actually, it was probably a good thing I didn’t take this bet.  While I’m not the biggest rap fan in the world, these guys definitely impressed me with their blend of “prog-hop.”  Unfortunately, they couldn’t please everyone (one person telling me she wanted her dollar back), but for the most part, it looks like they garnered enough support to put them into the next round (remember, 70% of points are determined by fan votes).

While performing is great, there is something better Battle of Birdy’s has to offer:

“I like getting the chance to see people that I don’t normally get to see,” said Mr. Kinetik of s.a.i.n.t. RECON, “because working in a hip-hop scene, we only get to see a certain amount of acts and I don’t have a lot of time to get out so when I come out to battle of the bands I get to hear other stuff.  So that’s always cool.”

Seven acts have come and gone.  Now it’s time to see who moves on and who goes home.  While all seven displayed great talent, only two can advance.  Myles goes upstairs to count the votes (along with several others) and we should have a winner shortly.  Anticipation builds.  Some bands meet and talk with others.  Some sit at a table enjoying their fries and drinks.  Some (like me) check out NFL highlights on ESPN.  All wonder who’s moving on.  With Myles making his way back to the stage, it’s time to find out:

In 2nd place taking 10% of the cash from the door as well as a coveted spot in the 2nd round is s.a.i.n.t. RECON.  In 1st place, taking 55% of the cash and moving on is none other than the Tyler Bender Band.

We won’t be seeing the winners from tonight any time soon, so how does it feel to be moving on?

“Kind of surprised.  Kind of surprised,” said Mr. Kinetik.  “We just come out to rock shows (and) not really worry about winning or moving on, but I’ll take it though.”

The battle takes a week off next week.  They’ll resume September 10 when seven more bands will take the stage to put it all on the line to make their case for why they should rule the local scene.  While they do this, tonight’s winners will work on perfecting their craft until the next round.

Anyone excited?

“Yeah man, I’m pumped,” said Mr. Kinetik.  “I’m real pumped.  So we’re gonna come out and rock that s@#t.”