MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Music was pumping and fans were cheering at Kahunas Sports Bar and Grill Friday at the fourth annual Bayfest Battle of the Bands.
Three local bands competed for the chance to open for Three Days Grace at BayFest tonight. The bands were the top three of eight bands who duked it out musically to win the honored slot.
The competition was organized by Marine Corps Community Services and local radio station Star 101.9. The radio station advertised the event and got word out to local rock bands, which then called them and signed up to compete. The bands went through three different shows at three different clubs, and the winners of those shows made it to the finals at Kahunas.
“BayFest is about trying to get the community involved, and Battle of the Bands brings people from the outside community into our community here on base,” said Alexis Swenson, general manager of the Kahuna’s Complex. “Battle of the Bands helps advertise BayFest by helping to get the word out there. It also helps showcase Kahunas and show people our outlet is here for the E-5s and below.”
Marines and Sailors filled the sports bar to watch the three finalists, Y-SAS, Analog and Grand Theft Audio, battle with rocking instrumentals and rolling vocals.
Star 101.9's disk jockey Maleko started the night introducing Y-SAS, who rocked the stage with original songs and lyrics. Paul Nichols put his all behind the vocals, while Colin Kop poured his heart out on the guitar. With stellar drumming by Paul Van and the support of an impressive bass line by Brian Coleman, Y-SAS opened the show right and got the crowd pumping and blood flowing for the following acts.
Analog was all but a stranger to the Kahunas scene, and drew in a crowd of devoted fans. The band plays once a month at the sports bar. Front man Drew Spenser rocked the microphone, while Selwyn Valdez on guitar, Gunso Kawai on bass and Daniel Gibson on drums proved why Analog was a regular at Kahunas. When they played a Rock’n’Roll version of the Sesame Street theme song, Analog had the judges smiling and the entire crowd singing along.
Grand Theft Audio brought a bit of a change to the scene, introducing Ruth Miawela, the first female performer of the night. Ruth had the crowd captivated with her hard rock vocals. With rocking guitar performances by Tim Fields and Kone Buhain, Grand Theft Audio had the crowd dancing along. The supportive rhythm section of bass played by Keoni Miawela and drums played by John Holy showed why Grand Theft Audio made it to the finals.
Although all three bands put on stellar performances, only one band could take the title and open for Three Days Grace. The judges scored the bands on originality of the music, the vocals, arrangements, and the band’s ability to keep animated and captivate the crowd. When all was deliberated, the judges decided that Y-SAS would perform at BayFest tonight.
“We feel great about winning tonight,” Coleman said. “The other bands did really well, so we had our work cut out for us. A lot of props go out to Analog and Grand Theft Audio. We’re just really looking forward to opening for Three Days Grace at Bayfest.”