At Last, The Finals

Hello bloggees and bloggettes!

Before beginning, I would like to again mention that we are having, for the next 4 Sundays, July 5th – July 26, a series of Best of the UMC showcases. It’s gonna be great. Click here for details.

And, now, finally, the Winner of the Ultimate Music Challenge is…

Rolling the Stones.

Congratulations you 20-thousand-dollar-having sumbitches!

Spend it wisely, or, go on a bender and blow it all in two days – either way, you earned it!

And just like that, it’s over.

I feel like a kid on Christmas day, after he’s opened all his presents, sitting around the tree looking at all the pieces of gift wrapping, shredded and scattered on the living room floor like, not to mix metaphors, dead soldiers after a great battle.

That’s how it feels for me today, Christmas has come and gone and I never wanted it to end.

UMC Semi-Finals, Round 2

[Author’s Note: There will be no band photos this week. My camera battery was dead last night so I was not able to snap pictures. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause].

And the winners of UMC Semi-Finals Round 2 are…

Siren’s Crush and Don’t Stop Believing:

Congratulations you ridiculously talented sum-bitches!

And so we have it, the official lineup for the UMC grand finale, in order of their scheduled appearances: Don’t Stop Believing, Rolling the Stones, Siren’s Crush and Monsters of Rock.

That’s two tribute bands versus two variety cover bands. (Gee, I wonder if that will dispel any conspiracy theories about the judges “favoring” tribute bands). Speaking of tribute groups, a sad farewell to Alice and the Cooper Gang. They are just so fun, so good; it’s tough to say goodbye. Especially since I haven’t heard “Goes to Hell” yet, which I was really hoping to hear last night. Suffice to say, I’m bummed. However, the best bands won last night, despite the fact that Don’t Stop Believing got the lowest db score.

Ahh, the mysteries of life.

UMC Semi-Finals Week 1

And the winners are…

Rölling the Stönes and Mönsters öf Röck.  Congratulations both you, “Bringing-it-when-it-needed-to-be-brought” mofos! See you in the Finals!

So, it was Rölling the Stönes which, once again, came out first, slammed the jam, smoked the stroke, and set a bar which arguably wasn’t surpassed until the last set of the night, if ever.

Man, oh man, I had so much fun last night. The only thing that sucked was that all 4 bands couldn’t go forward. For the record, I enjoyed every one of your sets and will be keeping an eye out for future gigs. True story.

Here are you db readings:

Rölling the Stönes topped the meter at 117.4, followed by Mönsters öf Röck at 116.7, The Mighty Untöuchables at 116.1, and Firëfly at 114.6, which means the crowd and I agreed upon the two winners, and overturned Alicia and Dave’s top pick of The Mighty Untöuchables.

Indeed, Dave and Alicia overtly expressed their disdain for my decision to stiff The Untöuchables and, predictably, pulled their, “We-are-musicians-and-we-know-better-than-you” card, on which I called bullshit. More on that later.

UMC Week 8

A quick note before we begin: Thanks to Judge Megan Carchman for filling in for Alicia last night. You did a bang up job girl, and it was a pleasure having you!

And so, the last week of the UMC preliminaries ends not with a whimper, but with a big badass bang – a big bang – as Siren’s Crush (formerly Crush – 3^rd Place in UMC 1 Finals) came away with the win.

UMC Week 7

Before I get to this week’s analysis I have a couple of comments.

I know many of you have been requesting, either on the blog or privately, that I publish band images, stats or judges’ scores from previous weeks’ challenges. First of all, please know, I haven’t been ignoring your requests. I was out of  town in the middle of last week (Las Vegas actually) and when I returned, spent Saturday and Sunday organizing and operating a two day music festival, then raced off to Viejas for UMC, and was pretty much away from my computer for the last 6 days. I didn’t even see all your blog and/or email requests until today.

UMC Week 6

First off, a special comment:

Today is Memorial Day and I’d like to take this moment to give a hearty thank you, thank you, thank you former and current military men, living or dead – for all you do and all you’ve done.

THIS MEANS YOU TOO PATRONE!

You may be a dick, but you are a hero dick. You are our hero dick.

And let it be known that even though we civilians really don’t need a Memorial Day to remind us of your sacrifice, we are happy to have one.

UMC Week 5

[Author’s note: If this is your first time visiting the UMC blog, you might want to check out the INTRODUCTION first.]

And the winner is…

Big Toe!

Congratulations you Velcro-vest wearing maniacs! Well done.

Week 4 – May 10

[Author’s note: If this is your first time visiting the UMC blog, you might want to check out the INTRODUCTION first.]

And the winner is…

Firefly!

Congratulations you Bad-Song-Selecting-But-Otherwise-Awesome rockers and rollers. See you in the next round.

Yep, so another fun night at the Ultimate Music Challenge. A bunch of us had a little after-party in the V-Lounge and, well, suffice to say, I’m a bit groggy today. But if you think I got tipsy last night, you should have seen the other two.

Alicia got so drunk she was hitting on a slot machine, and Dave jumped on the bartop and began singing “Wonderful World” into the beer tap handle because he thought it was a microphone.

Those guys are lushes. I, on the other hand, maintained my composure and did not make a fool of myself in any way. You can believe it because I am a journalist and  beholden to the truth.

UMC Week 3

“I think ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ was vocally and guitaristically* ambitious,” (Judge David Patrone on why Baytown should have considered not playing a Journey song).

And the winner is….

The Untouchables!

Congratulations you well-oiled machinists.

Week 2 – April 26

[Author’s note: If this is your first time visiting the UMC blog, you might want to check out the INTRODUCTION first.]

Hey all! Before getting to my review of last night’s competition, I have a small bit of unfortunate news to report. I am no longer able to take pictures in the DreamCatcher. It seems there are some complications with the gaming commission and taking photos in the lounge is heretofore verboten!

I know this sucks but let’s not make a big deal about it. It’s out of our hands and griping about it will only aggravate us (read: me) more. Besides, I’m going to use different, relevant images in their place so don’t lament my friends, all will be fine.

And the winner of Ultimate Music Challenge Week 2 is….

Monsters of Rock

Congratulations boys! Well done. Hell yeah!