While Tuesday night's snow made driving treacherous, those who fought the weather to attend the final round of Merlin's Battle of the Bands were rewarded. The music was great, and the environment was energetic and hospitable, favorably contrasting the desolate conditions outdoors.
"We do this in order to give local bands an opportunity to play and get more exposure in the public," said Dave Camarda, who is responsible for organizing the weekly competition at Merlin's.
"For the first three Tuesdays of the month three bands perform and the winner is determined through an audience-wide vote. On the fourth Tuesday, the three winning bands compete and the final winner is rewarded with ten hours of free recording time at Pine Audio," explained Camarda.
The three bands that performed in this Tuesday's final competition, while diverse in their style, all performed with a level of skill and intensity that one would expect from previous winners. The intimate and friendly environment of the venue complemented the music, making the show well worth the modest $2 admission fee.
The first band to perform, Kick Williams, played an eclectic blend of melodic punk, ska and emotionally driven rock. Donning an enormous grey fur hat, lead vocalist and bassist Edward Wyner blasted through a combination of cover tracks and original songs that were diverse in mood and melody, but consistent in quality.
The highlight of their set came in their second-to-last song, in which Wyner delivered an upbeat freestyle medley of ska covers including Reel Big Fish's "Suburban Rhythm," 311's "All Mixed Up," "Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry," as well as several others.
Next up was Hanabi, a Buffalo punk act, partially based in the immediate vicinity of Merlin's on Elmwood Avenue. Hanabi plays an upbeat brand of indie/punk in the vein of AFI's earlier work. By far the most enthusiastic act of the night, Hanabi not only delivered a well-balanced and energetic set, but also an extremely enjoyable visual performance.
Lead vocalist Keith Shuskie danced comically throughout the set, flailing his limbs, running in place and pouring water over his head to provoke crowd participation. If that wasn't ridiculous enough, percussionist Avi Altman played the drums in a full-bodied Chiquita Banana outfit, adding to the surreal hilarity of Hanabi's set.
"It's like we're not even competing," said Shuskie after their set. "The other bands are great. We try to look at it as more of a show than a competition, but it would be nice to win because this is our bar."
The final band to perform was Displaced. Their set was well-played, energetic hardcore, but their sound was markedly less original than that of the two preceding acts. Additionally, Displaced's drummer was new to the band, which probably had much to do with both their lack of enthusiasm and the few musical flaws that, though not abundantly obvious, could be detected in their set.
The best aspect of this event was the positive and friendly atmosphere that pervaded Merlin's for the entire show. There was not a single moment of dissention between fans, regular patrons of the bar or band members. In short, everyone involved seemed to have the utmost respect for others.
As for the competition, votes weren't tallied until 2 a.m., and most of the fans had already left when Hanabi was declared the winner. It seems that, as both Wyner and Shuskie suggested, the biggest emphasis of the show was to support local music, not competition.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
