Red Bull Sound Clash fights in L.A.

Written by Hilda Gabriela Wednesday, 24 September 2008 07:50

En esta esquina, desde la ciudad de México DF donde el rock está de moda y la piratería está de sobra… señoras y señores con ustedes, Allison…ding ding ding ding ding!

This was anything but the typical battle of the bands competition. Two bands from different musical genres. Two stages facing one another and the audience smacked between both stages serving as the final and only judge. Hosted by the Mexican self-proclaimed reina de la anarcumbia Amandititita, The Red Bull Sound Clash made its first US appearance on September 18th in Los Angeles after receiving international success in Russia, Japan and Hungary. First bands to partake in the US event were Mexican punk-pop band Allison and Los Angeles based Monte Negro whom stepped up to the ring after Panamanian rockers Rabanes were unable to perform.

The battle

With its sole purpose to reign one band as LA’s Red Bull Sound Clash champion, the three round series consisted of challenges where the bands performed one anothers songs and improvised a song as guest DJ Alex Tercero of radio station Super Estrella played the theme beats of disco, country and reggae. Interestingly enough, both bands gave stellar performances as they blew the crowd away with their musical abilities. Monte Negro's “Pena Collectiva” was given a rocker edge to it when performed by Allison and their signature rocker riffs and heavy drum beats. On the other hand, Monte Negro gave an impressive performance of Allison’s “Memorama” and “Dime Otra Vez”. Do I hear a Sound Clash compilation CD?

The judges

After each round, the winner of each round was weighed by an applause-o-meter that measured the fans applause for each band. Straight from a scene of a high school football game, as one side of the room clapped and cheered for their favorite band, the other side booed as the occasional water bottle flew from one end of the venue to the other. A microphone that hung from the ceiling directly down the middle of the crowd served more than its initial purpose. Other than measuring the applause of the audience to calculate the score for each performance, the mic also served as a border between the bands fans. As the occasional person who cheered for both bands was left noticeably standing in the midst of both crowds, both fan bases showed no mercy as they punked them for not choosing either side.

The Champion

Damas y caballeros, de la zona sur Los Angeles, California, Estados Unidos…reigning, undefeated, super feather weight champion of the world “el terrible” Mon-teeee-neeee-groooo!

Mosh pits, crowd surfing and rounds later, host Amandititita announced the final champion. With a slight point advantage over the other band, Monte Negro was awarded champion of LA’s first Red Bull Sound Clash. A humble Allison gave congratulatory words to the band before the night concluded with an unprecedented performance by Allison and Monte Negros lead singer, Kinski. Performing a cover of Rage Against the Machines “Pocket full of Shells”, the bands bid farewell as the crowd asked for more and stood reluctant to bid farewell to the evening.

The event in its entirety gave a new meaning to battle of the bands competitions. Unarguably so, Red Bull Sound Clash has left L.A. wanting more and wanting it soon. If you missed this historical event don’t fret, stay tuned for the next Red Bull Sound Clash coming soon.

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