Blastbeat "competition" - what a farce...

2-D Man

So I am just back from a so called "competition" in Donnybrook and what a complete joke it was.

I think this was the second round of the competition and the bands playing were:

1. Prowler http://www.bebo.com/prowlermusic
2. Choke hazard http://www.bebo.com/chokehazard
3. The Relaters http://www.bebo.com/TheRelaters
4. Alexis Creek http://www.bebo.com/Alexiscreek
5. The Headhunt
6. Slow Motion Getaway http://www.bebo.com/SlowMotionGetaway

Each band was permitted 3 songs. Only one of which could be a cover.

I was pretty sure it was going to be between Prowler and Slow Motion Getaway as were most of the crowd. Then on came The Relaters who's first two songs were pretty dull until they played a cover of Kings of Leon.

Now at this point they should have left the stage but despite every other band getting 3 songs max they were permitted 4.

At the end the winners were announced as being the Relaters with a few "you're having a laugh" shouts coming from the crowd. And then it all became clearer, the person running the gig, well her boyfriend was the lead singer in the Relaters so no wonder they got such a peachy spot and despite actually breaking the rules won

It was a complete joke, I've never had much respect for Blast but they really hit a new low tonight, an absolute farce.

Brethitmanhart

It's nothing new to me, seen the exact same with a Blastbeat in Cork, CIT Battle Of The Bands(worst I've ever seen) and a WestCorkGigs.

I think good bands should leave the talentless ****e do the battles instead as they're gonna be fixed anyway.

I also hate the people that set them up, they are the type of people that have no talent but wish they had so they book the gigs and then they know someone or are going with someone and surprisingly that persons band wins.

Mr. Frost

Sounds like a load of balls alright. ''Bands'' that enter that garbage will most likely never get anywhere as they have to in the first place. The Relaters? What a crap name.

yevveh

Their recordings are the best out of the lot. Sucks if they won for any reason other than their performance on the night though, should be judged on same things as everyone else. Don't think any covers should be allowed at a BOTB, ever.

Furious-Red

yevveh wrote: »

Don't think any covers should be allowed at a BOTB, ever.

Totally agree

Frankiestylee

If a bands good enough they shouldn't need to enter this sort of lark. You'll rarely find a "fair" judge anyhows, and in a country this size at least one band is going to have some knowledge of the judge and vice versa.

Of course there's always the case that the judge's genuine opinion was different than yours, in which case, tough.

Karl Hungus

Blastbeat?

blastbeat

Hi all,

We’d like to respond to the above post and let you guys know what actually happened on the night.

Blastbeat is and always will be independent and will never vote a band through just by ‘knowing’ the band.
The judges on the night were NOT affiliated with the MMC that ran the gig. There were two jugdges on the night: one a Blastbeat representative and another
who was a former manager of the Frames.

In the judges opinion the two original songs from the Relators were very strong and won them the competition (Cover versions are never scored as part of the point system).

I hope this helps to set the record straight, as in any competition the judges decision is impartial and final.

Blastbeat Team
www.blastbeat.tv | www.blastbeat.org

Brethitmanhart

blastbeat wrote: »

Hi all,

We’d like to respond to the above post and let you guys know what actually happened on the night.

Blastbeat is and always will be independent and will never vote a band through just by ‘knowing’ the band.
The judges on the night were NOT affiliated with the MMC that ran the gig. There were two jugdges on the night: one a Blastbeat representative and another
who was a former manager of the Frames.

In the judges opinion the two original songs from the Relators were very strong and won them the competition (Cover versions are never scored as part of the point system).

I hope this helps to set the record straight, as in any competition the judges decision is impartial and final.

Blastbeat Team
www.blastbeat.tv | www.blastbeat.org

Hahahahaha, I'm not talking about this night in particular as I wasn't there....but from being at one in Mallow and other places, this is and always will be a farce and it's a crap competition that if you had respect for yourselves you'd stop this competition.
Say whatever you want to satisfy yourselves but it's a competition fixed 99% of the time.

Dalglish07

It would seem you have a masive case of sour grapes , I've seen this band on numerous occasions they are absolutely fabulous, i believed they started with 'Howl' in no way dull and then played 'easy to say' this the first time they ever played the song live havin written it while preparing for the competition , their music will stand for itself as a previous reply has already stated their recordings were the best, this band has already won the NoiseBOTB in 2008, you should be glad you had the oppurtunity to share the same auditorium as them , you can boast to people you seen them at the start , It's just '2 Bad'' you feel you have to slag them off as they were not your choice, pity it takes a lot of courage for all kids to take the stage in front of an audience well done those that did not win but participated in a platform to showcase Irelands young talent.

AnonoBoy

Dalglish07 wrote: »

It would seem you have a masive case of sour grapes , I've seen this band on numerous occasions they are absolutely fabulous, i believed they started with 'Howl' in no way dull and then played 'easy to say' this the first time they ever played the song live havin written it while preparing for the competition , their music will stand for itself as a previous reply has already stated their recordings were the best, this band has already won the NoiseBOTB in 2008, you should be glad you had the oppurtunity to share the same auditorium as them , you can boast to people you seen them at the start , It's just '2 Bad'' you feel you have to slag them off as they were not your choice, pity it takes a lot of courage for all kids to take the stage in front of an audience well done those that did not win but participated in a platform to showcase Irelands young talent.

And which instrument does your son/daughter play in the band?

Dalglish07

Close Sherlock Cousin ,

Fad

Look Blastbeat dont exactly have the greatest reputation ever (certain small promoters would go insofar as to hate them).

But Blastbeat competitions encourage teens to form bands, and quite a few decent bands have come into the spot light from that competition.

Eg Steer Clear (RIP), Little Green Cars.

BOTB gigs arent ideal, but theyre a starting point for bands.

lee_arama

Admittedly there are quite a few smaller outfits, several in Cork, who came to be because of kiddy band competitions giving them the opportunity to get ahead, but I agree with the OP.

I've judged at several BotB's over the years and often see some incredulous opinions coming forth from the other judges as to who should win or who should go thru to the next round.

And I've certainly seen Blast gigs charging kerrrazy money into a gig for sub-standard bills.

The main problem is that licencing laws make it hard to run All Ages shows now, and that puts a lot of power in the hands of the bigger outfits like BB.

I'm hoping Homeless Productions (now a part of my own Acheron Promotions but running their own fully independent stuff too) and/or Freakhouse can get something running in Cork this summer. Simply cos Acheron has far too much work with the larger shows.

Motley Crue

2-D Man wrote: »

first two songs were pretty dull until they played a cover of Kings of Leon.....then it all became clearer, the person running the gig, well her boyfriend was the lead singer in the Relaters.

I wish to god someone from RTE sees this and responds because Id interested to know why TV companies, both in Ireland and across the pond, decide to continually air programmes that people do not want to see or result in decisions being made that dont seem to make any real sense!

aicXrichie

If your friend's band didn't make it through then just get over it, it's not the end of the world

HouseHippo

Yeah i know all about it.We kiked them out of our venue they have no respect for the Irish music scene and it is a huge pharse

Brethitmanhart

HouseHippo wrote: »

Yeah i know all about it.We kiked them out of our venue they have no respect for the Irish music scene and it is a huge pharse

I have to commend you on that, all venues should do this, They are a joke of a company/competition and have no respect for the irish music scene.

HouseHippo

Brethitmanhart wrote: »

I have to commend you on that, all venues should do this, They are a joke of a company/competition and have no respect for the irish music scene.

The best band never won. It was always whoever travelled the furthest or knew someone on the judging panel. The whole thing is a joke.

ste-ven

To be fair, it is up to the judges at the end of the day like, its only a competition. Music is all about having fun and meeting new people. If your getting beat up cause you didn't win a competition that ''was ment to be your big break'' get over it.

I find the Blast Beat competition to be good. Some of the bands that have won before I do agree wern't good at all, but Blast always signs the good band at the end of the day, just look at their artist. Apart from one or two the others have never won the competition.

wreckless

im putting in my tuppence here

as has been said already. these nights are all about the young and up coming bands, the stage gives all these musicians a chance to perform in front of their friends and friends of friends, the maddness that goes on makes you want to be a teenager again. these are great nights for the teenagers to really be who they are, young and mental!! (sense the envy here?)

i have judged and sponsored 2 blastbeats now, this year and last. i was asked as a lot of the students in our town are customers of mine, and i was honoured to be part of it all. last year, the work that went to organising the event in our local little threatre was unbelieveable. i mean it. the work the committee of transition yera students did to get the whole show set up was so professional. i and other (grown ups) were well impressed, fair fooks to them. they had everything down to a T. a few taechers are there from the school to help with the gig, but they had everything under control.
the whole nite was excellent, to decide on an band was well hard, there was 5 of us judging, and all jokes a side, they all won that nite. the group organising it won an award from blastbeat also for their effort. the team this year has a huge expectation from that but failed to live up to it. its just the way it was.

ive been going to gigs all my life, have so many friends in music, going outtonight to see some also, and any gig, that brings together people to rock out to music in a local town, when your part of it, you know the feeling it gives you. blastbeat deserve bit of credit for their part in each school and all the gigs they support anyway.

so, fook all the begrudgers.

weeder

wreckless wrote: »

a few taechers are there from the school to help with the gig, but they had everything under control.

what about the drunk ones?

Fad

Brethitmanhart wrote: »

I have to commend you on that, all venues should do this, They are a joke of a company/competition and have no respect for the irish music scene.

I know! I mean the fooking cheek of them, putting on over 14s gigs, encouraging bands to get their **** together, wánkers!

zenarcadian

lee_arama wrote: »

I'm hoping Homeless Productions (now a part of my own Acheron Promotions but running their own fully independent stuff too) and/or Freakhouse can get something running in Cork this summer. Simply cos Acheron has far too much work with the larger shows.

Homeless Productions was never "part" of Acheron Promotions, nor was or will it ever be subservient to another organisation. Homeless has been fully independent since day one, though we have partnered with other promotions in the past, and the only way to get the real story on anything we do is through one of us or our websites. We are not exclusively a kiddie or grown-up organisation either.

Mcjmetroid

I'll never forget my experience with blast beat.. Out singer let us down on the day for missing one line but everyone else was totally on form.

It was judged by school teachers or something..
No it doesn't work..

thegrove54

here ive seen the relaters before and they are a pretty decent band the pits were brilliant at their last gig untill the security broke em all up

rachel_123

lads! what are ye expecting?? its BLAST! biggest load of bull EVER! i've been in a few blast competitions myself, and im not joking - there always RIGGED!.

blast bands never go anywhere anyway - youre better off not being associated with them...

=]

thegrove54

rachel_123 wrote: »

blast bands never go anywhere anyway - youre better off not being associated with them...

=]

what about homestar runner they were with blast at the start and they've shared stages with paramore and metro station

rachel_123

thegrove54 wrote: »

what about homestar runner they were with blast at the start and they've shared stages with paramore and metro station

in ireland yes... but they'll never get past that. trust me on this one, people who work for blast even say it - it's a company for wannabe bands(some of who are good, most are unoriginal) who wanna make it "big", yet they will never make it past supporting bands in ireland. They might get a few gigs in america if blast ships them over there , but people who know their music scene wont respect people who are signed to blast.

Adam.McCarthy

thegrove54 wrote: »

what about homestar runner they were with blast at the start and they've shared stages with paramore and metro station

yeah but who wants to share the same stage as them?

pop-punk has swept ireland and its not cool at all. . .

i say that as a grunge/prog rock band who entered blast for the laugh coz sum skool working with them entered us and we got to the semis haha

blast is just a joke

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

yevveh wrote: »

Don't think any covers should be allowed at a BOTB, ever.

i dont agree 100%, a band that does mainly covers should never win.

if you think this was bad, what about HAM (Highlighting All Music). 32,000 prize fund, and UK tour! in the end, there was NO prize. That band mentioned earlier prowler won it. We did 2 of those gigs, waste of time. It was talked about on liveline, podcast link is below:
http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2009/pc/pod-v-150409-44m05s-liveline.mp3

rachel_123

Adam.McCarthy wrote: »

yeah but who wants to share the same stage as them?

pop-punk has swept ireland and its not cool at all. . .

i say that as a grunge/prog rock band who entered blast for the laugh coz sum skool working with them entered us and we got to the semis haha

blast is just a joke

actually, youre absolutly right - those bands(who i used to listen to when i was younger) are in "fashion". in my opinion there just stupid bands that will come and go, and what they write has no meaning atall. prog rock/alt.metal/alt. is the way to be :P the more original the better, hense why bands why muse are so big - nobody else sounds like them. ok im getting off the point. my original point is that blast sucks haha.

sydsad

yevveh wrote: »

Don't think any covers should be allowed at a BOTB, ever.

Have to agree with you as well.

What the **** is the point of doing a battle of the bands if your allowed to cover someone elses songs. Anybody can do that.

Entered one with my band www.myspace.com/nodeadspace before and i dont think any BOTB comp could beat this one. It was spread over 2 days.

1st day is for younger bands and out of 12 bands i think i only heard 2 originals. The winner of that day was a local band and they done the most terrible verson of teen spirit ever. I know they were young but still.

The 2nd day for the older bands was worse. Hardly anybody turned up(it was on a sunday night which was silly). Bands got delayed, one left. It was a mess. We were the only band that done a full set of originals.

But sure you live and you learn i guess

ClutchIt

Sweet Jesus, it gets worse.

The NUI Galway BOTBs is a complete joke. The night I saw it, a few years ago, EVERY song was a cover. These are university students for f**k sake. Practice, write a f**king song.

I'd only allow original songs, especially from grown ups. Although calling university students grown-ups is sadly a bit of a stretch these days.

And the state of what they were wearing too, good god. It couldn't possibly have looked or sounded more american.

Adam.McCarthy

sydsad wrote: »

1st day is for younger bands and out of 12 bands i think i only heard 2 originals. The winner of that day was a local band and they done the most terrible verson of teen spirit ever. I know they were young but still.


smells like Teeny-Bopper pop-punk. . . thats the main rock song they know. . . Kurt Cobain didnt even like that song haha

beng128

i've ran a blastbeat gig as event manager and ceo of the school that ran it and it was a bit of a "farce," the band that won our BotB had thier lead singer in our BB company so i think it was a bit rigged, though i didn't have much contact with the judges on the day.

The whole thing was bassicaly a time waster for 4th years but a good bit of fun. The music was sh1t from all bands.