Battle of the Arts Kicks Artistic Ass!

Mar 31, 2010 by Kristjanne Vosper

Below the party favours, hackysacks, and discount house wares filling the neon-illuminated shelves of Nelson’s Baker St. dollar store, there is a sweet little juice bar dishing out Ginger Zingers that pop.

This lovely all-ages, hole-in-the-wall, the Velvet Underground, played generous host to the Selkirk College Students’ Union second annual Battle of the Arts competition on March 5; and between the wheatgrass shots and wicked student talent, the event was a total success.

“The Battle of the Arts,” said SCSU Organiser Varenka Schwarz, is intended “to raise awareness about the arts and provide an opportunity for students from different campuses to meet and mingle.”

With most of the student competitors hailing from Nelson, the Kootenay School of the Arts was definitely well-represented. In addition to passionate musical performances by community members and Selkirk students, the event showcased student work in ceramics, textiles, jewellery, metal, paint and mixed media, with beautiful contributions by Talia Maisonneuve, grand prize winner of $200 and second-prize winner Peter Booth, as well as third prize-winner Trent Kampel-S. The event also featured work by Sarah Orton, Liz Banes, Alexander Cheshire, among others.

The jewellery and metalwork were amazing: pieces included a full chain mail shirt, a sceptre complete with crystal ball, and necklaces with glowing silver pendants.

While the music played, audience members participated in an on-site painting competition, whose continuing rounds and winners were decided by audience applause between band sets, with Sarah Orton taking home first prize (twice!), Trent Kampel-S second, and community-member Nadia third.

The crowd was amazing: super-dancey, enthusiastic, supportive, and fun. Whilst grinning ear-to-ear and gesturing wildly, SCSU Events Director Fraser Ploss exclaimed, “The bands kick ass! The artists kick ass! This is our best event ever!”

The evening’s music opened with two solo acts: Akhil Kodamanchili (remember his sweet finger-tapping at Selkirk Idol?) and Simon Joseph as One Stood Still. Though the two made valiant attempts to shift focus to the stage, the attention of the masses remained, for the most part, concentrated at the back of the venue, no doubt in the grips of the creepy skeleton-hand candleholder and delicate silver-twig necklace contributed by those talented folks of the KSA.

Immediately following the duo however, I Heart NY, featuring Melis McWilliams on drums, Nils Mikklesen on keys, Tyler Toews on guitar, and Simon Joseph on bass, grabbed everyone’s attention with a killer cover of MGMT’s “Kids,” and another of XTC’s “Making Plans for Nigel,” which they rocked like maybe XTC could’ve rocked it, were this 1979. The guitar killed. The keyboard! The drums! And every band member grinning like sinners, which is the best part of any performance, really.

Soundsplash, composed of music students Orion Miller, Neil Graham, and Remi LaLiberte, followed with earnest acoustic rock. Though I wasn’t totally captivated by their first two songs, I appreciated the third, into which singer Miller charged with total abandon, maybe having glimpsed the MC lingering near the side of the stage. Equipped with a wireless patch cord, bassist Graham strolled into the crowd the way a sitcom dad strolls across the front lawn for the paper, casual as all get-out, effectively clearing the stage for the evening’s first-prize winners, Prank Hot.

Clad in bare feet, bandana, and Gogol Bordello hoodie, guitarist Tyler Boissonnault revealed Prank Hot’s influences even before bassist Tom Wyman announced them. “We’re gonna play some gypsy punk!” hollered Wyman, as Boissonault launched into that carefree one-legged rock hop so dear to the music-lover’s heart, pounding out the rhythm as much as the chords on a nylon-string acoustic, whilst drummer John Aaram shredded a snare with a sound so tight and beautiful as to inspire this intrepid reporter to maybe learn the secrets of tuning drums. Seriously. It was gorgeous. Their set sprinkled liberally with fist-pumps, choruses of “Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!,” and half-time breakdowns I overheard one listener describe, in excited disbelief, as “Totally metal,” Prank Hot effectively captivated the audience.

Following Prank Hot were third-prize winners Sarah’s Electric Panda, who performed a sizzling rendition of Erykah Badu’s “Back in the Day.” Thank-you, Brittany Mahood—though I had forgotten how fabulous a frontwoman can be, my cynical heart busted wide-open every time she and the rest of the band called out, “Puff.” The hip swing! The tenderness! Though they’d obviously only planned the one song, as Mahood left the stage drummer Melis McWilliams, possibly responsible for the wicked sound of the snare I later saw her hugging to her chest with affection, hissed, “I kind of feel like playing another one.” They did—an instrumental original, “It’s Sweet When Cultures Meet,” which boasted complex parts, myriad time changes, and many breaks. Though it was upwards of eight minutes long, the dynamic keyboards and visible concentration and joy of the players made for a totally engaging performance. Keyboardist Mikklesen confessed to being a relatively new addition to the group, while McWilliams, guitarist Sean McLaughlin, and bassist Matt Haywood have been playing together for a little over a year.

With two bands left, we were treated to the impromptu beat-boxing of one Rob Goblin, who made beats like C3P0 might, if he were a droid with some sense and not an uptight nerd. Think, maybe, Anakin gets rich or dies trying, the podrace is actually a driveby, and instead of light sabres the jedi are wielding those hi-tech needle-less turntables that play records with lasers. George Lucas. The crowd pressed in close to the stage as Nelson’s Dazza freestyled over Rob Goblin’s wicked beats.

The Ginger Zingers, at this point, were flowing freely. Some audience members had paint on their faces. Most of us were on our feet.

Second-prize winners Locomotive Ghost were a crowd favourite. Somehow, the bulk of the audience knew all the words to their songs, singing almost as hard as vocalist-guitarists Tyler Toews and Mike Buckley, though with somewhat more fierce and frequent fist-pumps. While drummer Cortney Osness kept time with the upright posture and serene expression of a yogi, bassist Ben Nixon wriggled like a two-legged snake playing bass in a Disney flick, feet planted, teeth flashing, heart singing, riffs galore. The beautiful back-ups, harmony, and sweet, sweet repeats of singers Georgia Laloudakis and Shelby Suhan fleshed out the band’s old-time good-time stage-party 1970s feel.

And then suddenly, at the close of the evening: metal. Northwind—Nick Molson, Kris Kolesnikoff, Ross Oyurkovitz, and Shane Sherm subbing on guitar—boasted, having left their synth player at home, a six-string bass, a pair of matching flying V’s, a double-kick, and two china cymbals. Extreme! Singer-guitarist Kolesnikoff projected all the charisma and rakish charm of Bruce Dickinson, and gave mad props to the Velvet Underground, SCSU, participating artists, and other bands.

And then it was over.

First-prize winners Prank Hot took home $500, Locomotive Ghost, a close second, bagged $250, and third-prize winners Sarah’s Electric Panda scored a cool $125. When pressed for a quote, SEP bassist Matt Haywood said, “It’s cool being in Nelson, just playing whatever music you want.” Damnnnn straight.

For upcoming shows, music downloads, and more information, check out everybody’s websites:

Soundsplash: myspace.com/soundsplashmusic

Sarah’s Electric Panda: myspace.com/sarahspandaland

Locomotive Ghost: myspace.com/locomotiveghost

Akhil Kodamanchili: soundclick.com/anidlemind

Northwind: myspace.com/knightsofthenorthwind