On Friday, May 22, Housatonic’s class of 2027 hosted the fourth annual Battle of the Bands, where five bands across all grades performed a wide variety of music. Kate from Baltimore took home first place for the third consecutive year, and Elizabeth Forbes and Percussion Talk took a second place finish.
Marathon, headed by sophomore Kartel Henry, opened up the night. This was the band’s first time at the competition, and Henry’s first time performing live, although he has amassed over 1 million listeners on Spotify for his solo project, COSIGNS. “[Marathon is] going to start releasing music,” he says. “I think I can use my platform to expose Marathon to more people.”
Next, freshman Samantha Silvernail and Adrian Dykeman performed for the first time as well. The pair showed ambition and composure in front of a large audience, and look like a formidable group should they find more Metallica fans to play covers with next year.
For the third year, Abram Kirshner’s Blossom returned to the stages of Housatonic Valley. The band played two original songs composed by Kirshner and his band members, and covered The Head And The Heart’s “Rivers and Roads,” featuring Anna Gillette’s harmonies with Kirshner. “I think Battle of the Bands really helped build my confidence on stage,” Kirshner said. He began playing music and writing songs less than two years ago, and is continuing his music career at college. “It helped me get used to that sort of pressure.”
Defending last year’s title, Kate from Baltimore played fourth with a very talented squad once again. The band has performed with a few different musicians over the years, but has consistently produced some of the most exciting performances of the night. “Our band practiced a lot and we just had a lot of fun together,” said lead singer Sophia Fitz. “Even if they don’t know if they’re going into music professionally, it still lets everyone show off their talents and lets them practice their instruments.”
This year, the class of 2027 took on the role of hosting the annual event, led by juniors Danny Lesch and Carmela Egan. “It was Danny Lesch,” Fitz said. “Look, I mean, he just blew it out of the park.”
Adam Hock, left, and Abram Kirshner take a bow after their performance.Simon Markow
However, the night wasn’t all smooth sailing.
Prior to the show starting, there were many miscommunications about when the performances would actually begin. A school announcement claimed it began at 7 p.m., however the organizers claimed the show would begin at 6:15 p.m. Ultimately, the show began around 6:45, with enough time for all the bands to set up while ensuring everybody would arrive in time.
There was also some deliberation about the order that the bands would play in. Blossom was initially set to play first, however band order was determined at a sound check that Blossom wasn’t able to attend. Feeling as if opening for the third year in a row, especially as seniors, was unfair, the band protested, and eventually resolved to trade with the newer band Marathon.
With stress creating high tensions in the room, Senior Elizabeth Forbes stepped up to remind the bands that, “We’re all here for fun, ok. This is not something to stress or freak out or get mad at each other over, we’re all just musicians who enjoy playing music.”
Elizabeth Forbes and Percussion Talk played last, covering crowd favorites including “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls, and ending the night with the song “Your Toy” from Forbes’s EP Dear Leo.
As a solo artist, Forbes played with juniors Jasper Oyanadel, and first time percussionist Jacob Robles. “I think we did good,” Oyanadel said. “As a band itself we did great … Very few practices, but we definitely picked it up and we stepped up.”
“I thought it was a great experience,” Forbes said. “Everybody in the beginning was a little stressed, and we kind of just all made a big group circle and we were all like, let’s not stress about this, let’s just go out there and jam.”
“I mean, it was, honestly, it’s not even a battle of the bands,” Fitz said. “It’s more like everyone just loves performing. Like, it’s just so fun to perform. And, like, no matter if you win or don’t win, like, the performance is what everyone comes there for.”
