battle 1 review from Turner of ConnectATL
(thanks a zillion turner)
from lunarmagazine.com forums:
First of all congrats to Threv for being an excellent host last night. He was genuinely excited about the event, being a long time and talented contestant himself. The Spirit of the event was felt from the get go.
He also did an excellent job promoting the individual talents of the contestants most of who he knew personally. Again he did so with enthusiasm.
I should also mention the sound was on point all night. There was a video camera also worked by threv that was on the contestants laptops and controllers so that the judges and the crowd could see that these guys are doing a shit load more than pushing a play button.
Can we all fucking agree on that point?
And to that point I'd like to give huge props to the creativity that these contestants employed to bring something new to the loyal geekdom. The rules allowed for one external controller.
The crowd was 60 strong and packed the stage side of the bar.
It was loud, and recorded.
Poodleface brought in a midi controller and a fucking lazy susan. He incorporated video cuts from an adam sandler movie into the music and then fliped the laptop around to the crowd (note: not to the judges) and then played his cuts with the controller.....he won that one.
was a double elimination tourney so push button action man went to the losers bracket. he was a first time competitor who had recently dabbled in pc production. i liked his sound. very electro.
Then Charlie P came with a very raw, shrill track that had people thinking there was a bad connection or some shit had gone haywire, then he dropped the beat and we all caught up. It was a good opener Charlie.
Charlie's competitor was veteran battler Maximilian Rheinhardt. He had a long as huge black beard. You could tell he was an uber geek. He broke out the sega controller and played his set using it. It had a popier sound and played well to the judges.
The veterans entertained all night.
Max and Charlie were talking about swapping tunes already when Threv delivered the judges decision. Maximilian Rheinhardt moves on.
So I was bummed Charlie's night was over then he had to remind me that it was double elimination. I perked up and got some more beers.
I'm a little fuzzy on the next two battles (beer) but I do know that PH was the winner of one and Graham Coleman was the other. Their competitors were Mike Johnson and Dharmatronix.
PH came with a trigger finger type controller and he came raw with his shit. He got everything there was to give out of those speakers and his set was bangin.
Graham Coleman came with custom built program that dissects any track you put in and puts all the samples into a plot chart that looked like a thousand mini chicklets spread all over his screen. He reminded me a lot of Daedalus. Appeals to the Stephen Hawking types.
are you kidding me?
He also brought a variety of reprogrammed toys including one Wii wireless controller that played based on movement. The music he created was not always pleasing to the ear but it certainly appealed to the mind and the nature of the event. The judges agreed. Graham would only lose one battle all night.
Then came the first round of the losers bracket. Charlie P was my guy so I didn't keep up with every battle and I'm sure the video will do justice for the night. So take that with a grain of salt.
First up was Charlie P vs Push Button Action Man. Charlie played a new track and PBAM hit up some of that electro sound. I had seen so much to this point I had no idea where the judges, whom I don't envy, were going to go.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie P lost round one. Won the elimination round and that's where we are."
Nother brew is in order. Snag one for Charlie.
Mike Johnson won the other loser bracket.
So it's Mike Johnson against Charlie P. For the third time Charlie opens. I watched the battle with Rachael who was a huge Mike Johnson fan and also a good friend of Charlie's. She's 80 months pregnant and made the trek out. Go on girl!
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie won round two!!" (which was actually round three...beers)
Winners round goes:
Graham and Max ended up winning their round.
Next up, Charlie P vs PH - I believe Charlie got second turn on this one.
PH came with it hard again pushing more buttons than any man alive.
Charlie P came back with his Jelly Bean template which features Adam Herbert guitar at about 180 bpm.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie P made the Finals!" (top 4 competitors advance)
Winners round goes:
Graham Coleman beats Max - Max utilized samples from every competitor that had played and had an overhead projector with a printout with the order of the samples. He knew it wouldn't win points with the Judges but it was a bold move that ya had to give to the guy.
Round 5:
Charlie P vs Maximilian Rheinhardt - Rematch!!
I had to run outside to meet a friend and totally missed this match. I got back and heard a shit load of cheering and was like Oh fuck what did I miss god damn me.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie p won again he is in the Final!"
Fuckin comeback kid had won the crowd over. It was electric in there. I wasn't planning on having this many beers. Holy crap.
Final Round:
Charlie P vs Graham Coleman
If Charlie loses it's over, if he wins a second round is played.
Charlie P drops a remix of 'September 12th' The first Random Rabbit tune I ever heard and still one of my favorites. Not what I would have picked but try figuring Charlie P out. It was fucking slammin but in that Rabbit kinda way.
Coleman comes back with some mind bending shit.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Won again!! Final left" as in Final Final. What a show.
Charlie closed it out with his 'Grand Bazzaar' template and Graham came with another crazy game of chicklets for the brain.
In the end the judges gave it to Graham who came with the most advanced setup from the digital age. Not what I would have wanted, but I am bias. Certainly well deserved and the biggest representative of the digital age in that room. Congrats to Graham.
Charlie P defeated 5 of the 7 other contestants in at least one battle. He was the only one in the contest that had to throw down on 7 battles. So congrats to you man.
Congrats to everyone who came out and supported this event on the stage or in the crowd. It was well executed (a bunch of geeks, imagine that)
Top 4 from this event advance to the finals in October.
Next Prelim is in August and Provine is going to be in tha mix.
Threv told me that he already has 14 people signed up for this round. Congrats to him.
Turner
from lunarmagazine.com forums:
First of all congrats to Threv for being an excellent host last night. He was genuinely excited about the event, being a long time and talented contestant himself. The Spirit of the event was felt from the get go.
He also did an excellent job promoting the individual talents of the contestants most of who he knew personally. Again he did so with enthusiasm.
I should also mention the sound was on point all night. There was a video camera also worked by threv that was on the contestants laptops and controllers so that the judges and the crowd could see that these guys are doing a shit load more than pushing a play button.
Can we all fucking agree on that point?
And to that point I'd like to give huge props to the creativity that these contestants employed to bring something new to the loyal geekdom. The rules allowed for one external controller.
The crowd was 60 strong and packed the stage side of the bar.
It was loud, and recorded.
Poodleface brought in a midi controller and a fucking lazy susan. He incorporated video cuts from an adam sandler movie into the music and then fliped the laptop around to the crowd (note: not to the judges) and then played his cuts with the controller.....he won that one.
was a double elimination tourney so push button action man went to the losers bracket. he was a first time competitor who had recently dabbled in pc production. i liked his sound. very electro.
Then Charlie P came with a very raw, shrill track that had people thinking there was a bad connection or some shit had gone haywire, then he dropped the beat and we all caught up. It was a good opener Charlie.
Charlie's competitor was veteran battler Maximilian Rheinhardt. He had a long as huge black beard. You could tell he was an uber geek. He broke out the sega controller and played his set using it. It had a popier sound and played well to the judges.
The veterans entertained all night.
Max and Charlie were talking about swapping tunes already when Threv delivered the judges decision. Maximilian Rheinhardt moves on.
So I was bummed Charlie's night was over then he had to remind me that it was double elimination. I perked up and got some more beers.
I'm a little fuzzy on the next two battles (beer) but I do know that PH was the winner of one and Graham Coleman was the other. Their competitors were Mike Johnson and Dharmatronix.
PH came with a trigger finger type controller and he came raw with his shit. He got everything there was to give out of those speakers and his set was bangin.
Graham Coleman came with custom built program that dissects any track you put in and puts all the samples into a plot chart that looked like a thousand mini chicklets spread all over his screen. He reminded me a lot of Daedalus. Appeals to the Stephen Hawking types.
are you kidding me?
He also brought a variety of reprogrammed toys including one Wii wireless controller that played based on movement. The music he created was not always pleasing to the ear but it certainly appealed to the mind and the nature of the event. The judges agreed. Graham would only lose one battle all night.
Then came the first round of the losers bracket. Charlie P was my guy so I didn't keep up with every battle and I'm sure the video will do justice for the night. So take that with a grain of salt.
First up was Charlie P vs Push Button Action Man. Charlie played a new track and PBAM hit up some of that electro sound. I had seen so much to this point I had no idea where the judges, whom I don't envy, were going to go.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie P lost round one. Won the elimination round and that's where we are."
Nother brew is in order. Snag one for Charlie.
Mike Johnson won the other loser bracket.
So it's Mike Johnson against Charlie P. For the third time Charlie opens. I watched the battle with Rachael who was a huge Mike Johnson fan and also a good friend of Charlie's. She's 80 months pregnant and made the trek out. Go on girl!
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie won round two!!" (which was actually round three...beers)
Winners round goes:
Graham and Max ended up winning their round.
Next up, Charlie P vs PH - I believe Charlie got second turn on this one.
PH came with it hard again pushing more buttons than any man alive.
Charlie P came back with his Jelly Bean template which features Adam Herbert guitar at about 180 bpm.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie P made the Finals!" (top 4 competitors advance)
Winners round goes:
Graham Coleman beats Max - Max utilized samples from every competitor that had played and had an overhead projector with a printout with the order of the samples. He knew it wouldn't win points with the Judges but it was a bold move that ya had to give to the guy.
Round 5:
Charlie P vs Maximilian Rheinhardt - Rematch!!
I had to run outside to meet a friend and totally missed this match. I got back and heard a shit load of cheering and was like Oh fuck what did I miss god damn me.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Charlie p won again he is in the Final!"
Fuckin comeback kid had won the crowd over. It was electric in there. I wasn't planning on having this many beers. Holy crap.
Final Round:
Charlie P vs Graham Coleman
If Charlie loses it's over, if he wins a second round is played.
Charlie P drops a remix of 'September 12th' The first Random Rabbit tune I ever heard and still one of my favorites. Not what I would have picked but try figuring Charlie P out. It was fucking slammin but in that Rabbit kinda way.
Coleman comes back with some mind bending shit.
Drunk text to Mike Z:
"Won again!! Final left" as in Final Final. What a show.
Charlie closed it out with his 'Grand Bazzaar' template and Graham came with another crazy game of chicklets for the brain.
In the end the judges gave it to Graham who came with the most advanced setup from the digital age. Not what I would have wanted, but I am bias. Certainly well deserved and the biggest representative of the digital age in that room. Congrats to Graham.
Charlie P defeated 5 of the 7 other contestants in at least one battle. He was the only one in the contest that had to throw down on 7 battles. So congrats to you man.
Congrats to everyone who came out and supported this event on the stage or in the crowd. It was well executed (a bunch of geeks, imagine that)
Top 4 from this event advance to the finals in October.
Next Prelim is in August and Provine is going to be in tha mix.
Threv told me that he already has 14 people signed up for this round. Congrats to him.
Turner
1 Comments:
This takes me back, nice read. Turner's enthusiasm is pretty great, I'm glad to see it!
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