Bands Bracket Day 2: Everything Makes An Appearance

Let’s jump right in here and pick up where we left off Friday. We’re taking a look at the bottom of the JM’s Region today. Vote early, vote often. We’ll keep the polls open until we post the next match-up later this week.

 #3 Fighting Gravity v. #6 Gibb Droll [polldaddy poll=5137453]

Fighting Gravity – I was a poser ska fan throughout much of high school, so this band really appealed to me when I first heard them my freshman year at JMU. At the time they were known as Boy O’ Boy, but they changed their name to Fighting Gravity a short time later. The rumor was that they had some sort of dispute with another  band who claimed to have the rights to that name. If true, they learned nothing about trademark law from the experiences because searches for “Fighting Gravity” exclusively return pages about some weird Blue Man Group meets Cirque du Soleil type performance troup from America’s Got Talent. It’s kind of a bummer, because I was hoping to find some music of theirs to link to. I also Googled Boy O’ Boy, but thanks to a rather unfortunate typo there is a good chance Chris Hansen is going to come knocking on my door. So, we’re just gonna wrap this one up. Good band though.

Gibb Droll – Is it just me or were this guy and his band virtually inescapable in the mid to late 90’s? I’m not saying that their music was universally adored or even widely known. It’s just that it felt like you couldn’t go see any band play without some random dude wandering up rambling on and on about Gibb Droll. It sucked. Tailgating at a Phish show? Some dude selling devil sticks was bound to spend 3 hours explaining why Gibb Droll was a better guitar player than Trey. Checking out an open mic night over winter break? Big mistake. Someone was bound to try to play a Gibb Droll song, fail horribly, claim the sound guy screwed up, and then lambast you and the audience for not appreciating the blues. I’m telling you, his fans were the 1990 college campus equivalent of hipsters. If you could ignore them though, you’d realize the guy was (and still is) a pretty amazing guitarist.

# 2 Everything vs. #7 Shannon Worrell [polldaddy poll=5137455]

Everything – My senior year of high school some friends of mine took a trip down to JMU for the weekend. I’m not sure why I didn’t go with them. I think it was either because I had a lacrosse game or because they didn’t like me and weren’t really my friends. In any case they returned with an Everything tape (yes, a tape) and stories about how all the students on campus were listening to the band. So when I decided to go to JMU, I somehow believed that every weekend the entire student body just went to one big party where Everything played. I also had equally realistic expecations about how successful I’d be with woman, because one of my friends (who eventually became my roommate at JMU) told us all that getting girls at JMU was “just like catching a frisbee.” This was either 1. the worst analogy ever or 2. evidence that I really suck at frisbee. Anyway, if you were on campus in the early to mid 90’s, you probably think it’s an outrage they’re not the #1 seed in this ridiculous little bracket. And if you didn’t, then please trust those of that did when we tell you that Hooch is no Soulfish.

Shannon Worrell – Let’s first say that she had an absolutely beautiful voice. Her fans however, largely fell into one of two camps. They were either people who were way too into to Dave Matthews Band and liked her because Dave sang back-up on Eleanor on her first album, or they were guys with no game who thought that being a Shannon Worrell fan would make them seem sensitive and more attractive to women. If you fell into the first category, girls were probably freaked out by the way you reacted when your roommate accidentally lost your tape of Dave’s 1994 show at The Flood Zone with the 8 minute version of Two Step. If you fell in the second category, you probably had a lot of fun hanging out with girls all night at parties, before they abruptly left to go sleep with their boyfriends when the night came to a close. If you were unfortunate enought to fit into both categories, then you were me. Again, she had a absolutely beautiful voice.