On Friday, March 28, The Drake in Amherst opened its doors and began to flood with audience members ready to enjoy a night of live music. The event, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst student radio station, WMUA 91.1, has been an ongoing hit for six semesters now. This semester’s prize was $250 and opening for Feeble Little Horse at the WMUA spring concert in the UMass Amherst Campus Center auditorium.
The crowd erupted as the first band, Pretzle, got on stage. The band consists of Simone Menard-Irvine on guitar, Allison Lindsay on guitar, Walker Lindsay on bass and Matas Buitkus on drums. All the songs that the group performed were originals, the first one titled “Cute Sexy.” The next song was “Applecore,” and then “Piano Man” closed up Pretzle’s set. The band was rocking so hard that a guitar pick broke apart mid-set, but the situation was quickly remedied and the show went on.
Up next was Over The Median with Nick Savage on guitar and vocals, Cooper Gardner on drums and vocals and Gavin Donovan on bass. In an interview before the night began, the group explained their excitement about the event.
“I definitely felt anxious leading up to [Battle of the Bands] but now I feel totally ready … I think it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Gardner said. They performed their original songs “Stealing Garv,” “Her,” and “PBR.” They currently have one song titled “Master of None” released on their Spotify, with a new EP, including the three songs they performed on The Drake stage, out soon.
The third band to go was The Anti Citizens, who later won the Battle of The Bands. The band featured Kaisar Perry on drums, Alma Clark on trumpet, Tyler Bean on bass and Jackson Herson on vocals and guitar. The band performed a mix of original songs alongside covers. They opened with “Be My Husband” by Nina Simone, then performed “Me and Your Mama” by Childish Gambino and ended with two original songs “See Forever” and “Here We Go Again.” They currently have those original songs up on Spotify for listeners.
When asked how they felt about winning, the group screamed in unison with excitement. “Feeble Little Horse is such a good band, that is the thing that I am the most excited about,” Herson said. “All the other bands did phenomenal,” Perry said. “I can’t believe we won,” added Clark.
They are currently working on their EP which will drop sometime in June of this year.
Mish concluded the night, with Miguel Gomba on drums, Aiden Sabine on keys, Lauren Daniel Moran on vocals, Jasper Grant on guitar and bass and Aeneas Str on vocals, bass and guitar. Their set was solely original songs, including “Animal,” “Boston Day” and “Remember.” The set started off with a jazzy vibe and then headed down the path of more fast-paced music that got the crowd dancing.
Each band that performed did a stellar job. There was much talent displayed on the stage, and each band truly had their own individual sound. To support these local artists, you can follow their Instagrams, stream their Spotify releases and attend their live events.
Victoria Tibets can be reached at [email protected].
