Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
LIVE WYYA, winner of the inaugural Global Battle of the Bands, held
at Backyaad, Constant Spring Road on Sunday. The band will represent Jamaica
in the Global Battle of the Bands, to be held at London Astoria, England, on
December 7. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
BEFORE THE members of the LIVE WYYA Band even plugged in their instruments
on Sunday night, there was a tumult of horns and applause from their supporters
in the audience.
At the end of the first ever Jamaican 'Battle of the Bands', held at Backyaad,
Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew, the horns sounded again as LIVE WYYA topped
C Sharp and Roots Underground, in that order, for the bronze statuette. And,
more importantly, the band will represent Jamaica at the second Global 'Battle
of the Bands' at the London Astoria, England, on December 7.
MUSICAL BLEND
It was a reggae top two, a blend of rock and reggae in third and rock from
third to sixth, with From The Deep, Downstairs and Black Zebra following Rootz
Underground, Marcus I and the Revolutionaries coming in with reggae in seventh
position. The other bands in the inaugural competition were the Ray Darwin Group,
Cohesion, Gunsmoke Battalion, Rhythm Boys, Aluta Continua, Ajani and the Real
Roots of Culture, Random Chaos, Kassa and the Storm and No Credit.
The judging panel of Brian Schmidt, Claudette Powell, Freddie McGregor, Marjorie
Whylie, Michael Edwards, Sharon Burke and Ibo Cooper determined 80 per cent
of the vote, with the rest coming by ballot from members of the substantial
audience at Backyaad.
CARIBBEAN RHYTHMS
In giving the judges report and the results, Cooper acknowledged the presence
of Sonny Bradshaw, who he said had been instrumental in keeping live music going,
but expressed one disappointment with the entries. "What I did not hear tonight
was a lot of Caribbean rhythms," Cooper said, noting the richness of Latin music.
With each band being given five minutes to set up and eight minutes in which
to play two original songs, only Marcus I and the Revolutionaries had the sound
turned down on them for a somewhat extended period, as they went over the allotted
time.
While many singers used the promontory, Rhythm Boys being the first, C Sharp's
lead guitarist was the only musician for the night to venture closer to the
audience, playing an electrifying solo on their first song.
They ended to tumultuous applause.
UPTEMPO REGGAE
LIVE WYYA played uptempo reggae for their first song in which the lead singer
coached a willing audience into a rhythmic handclap as he sang don't you
try to dis/you will be next on the list. Their second song was a pure roots
rocker, with a stirring guitar solo, with a refrain of can't keep us down
coming before the ending 'Rastafari' and the cheers went up.
Random Chaos was the only band to utilise a female lead singer, who stood tall
and lean in black boots under a black mini skirt and matching bustier. The Gunsmoke
Battalion brought rap to the battle with their lead duo describing 'the streets
of JA', while the Rhythm Boys hit a rare soft note for the night with an opening
lover's rock reggae song.
Among the bands to use singing musicians on lead vocals were From The Deep,
Black Zebra, Marcus I and the Revolutionaries, Kassa and the Storm and Downstairs.
