Battle of the Bands raises the bar yet again!

Was this year’s Battle of the Bands the best yet? With everything from hip-hop, rap, and electro-house to pop-punk, folk, and alt-rock, all played to an amazing standard by young Yukon musicians, it may well have been. We were awestruck with the quality of music that filled Mount Mac’s Grey Room last Friday night. If nothing else, this year’s Battle of the Bands proved that live music in the Yukon is very alive and very well, especially so among young musicians.

 

This year’s winners were The Midnight Sons, a band that formed just over a year ago and have been taking big leaps towards a successful music career ever since. The band consists of Patrick Docherty (drums), Alex Johnston (guitar / vocals), and Ian MacIntyre (bass / guitar), a group of friends in their early twenties who create melodic folk / contemporary rock that speaks to life and young manhood north of 60. Despite that the Midnight Sons only started playing together in December 2012, they played the kind of rustic, soulful songs that usually come from a much more mature band. They’ll be performing at the Party on Main Street at Rendezvous on Saturday, February 15, 2014 as part of their first-place prize.

 

Dead Simple took second place again this year. It’s no secret that they’ve been growing as a band since they formed in 2011, but their performance on Friday night showed that their musicianship, song-writing, and performance skills are stronger than ever. Selina Heylingers-Hare, Erik Vasseur, Andrew Crist, and Will Rees, all aged 17, had the room up and dancing in no time. We’re excited to see what they’ll bring to the table next year. MC Turmoil (Jonathan Steel) and Super Daver (David Richardson) put on an incredible show, with a vibrant stage presence that captured both the audience and the judges and earned them the third-place position.

 

This year’s People’s Choice Award winner was 86 YounGunz, a trio of young hip-hop artists that are hoping to follow the path of Vision Quest. They’ll get to play at the Atlin Music Festival’s youth stage this year as their prize.

 

There’s no doubt that the judges had a hard time determining the winners. The high calibre of music this year meant that competition was stiff. We’d like to thank Isaiah, who performed on stage together for the third time ever and did an incredible job, DJ Botfly, for breaking the mold and adding some bouncy electro-house beats to the evening, and Solid Fuel, for entering the competition again this year and putting on another fantastic show. Thanks also go to Soda Pony, for warming up the crowd at the beginning of the night, and to last year’s winners, Vision Quest, for sending off the audience by showing the audience what Yukon hip-hop is all about.

 

Of course, this event wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of Kasey Rae Anderson from Frostbite Music Society, and Allison Furniss, BYTE’s Whitehorse Outreach Coordinator. We’d also like to thank GBP Creative, Vanessa Falle Photography, Atlin Music Festival, Jordy Walker Music, Triple J’s, Wanted Apparel, Mount Sima, Headless Owl Records, Dawson City Music Festival, Dean’s Strings, and Boardstiff for their sponsorship and support.

 

And, thank YOU for coming out and supporting this event! See you next year!

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