We’re wrapping up the first round today and taking a look at the bottom of the Blue Fox Region. We’ve got JMU’s own Puddleduck and 3 other bands with ties to other Virginia colleges. Let’s jump right in and take a look at the 3-6 match-up.<\/p>\n
#3 Puddleduck v. #6 Slackjaw\u00a0[polldaddy poll=5150492]<\/strong><\/p>\n Puddleduck \u00a0– <\/em><\/strong>I saw these guys play at JM’s on many a Thursday night back in my junior year. The routine was always the same. I’d roll out just after dinner at D-Hall with a couple of buddies. Since most of us weren’t yet 21, we’d walk down the train tracks memorizing all the info on our fake IDs, swearing to each other that if one of us got rejected, we’d all go home together. Then most weeks someone would get denied at the door (usually JMUSB commenter Tedward) and the rest of us would pretend like we didn’t know him, walk right in, and belly up to the bar for some dime drafts (not a typo, beers were 10 cents.) We’d spend the next few hours drinking lots of very bad beer, chasing girls, and listening to Puddleduck before wandering our way back down to the row for a late night party. And while I don’t think anyone is going to argue that the band was particularly gifted or musically complex (Exhibit A the lyrics to Row Psalm<\/em>), they were\u00a0the <\/em>JMU band for a time. They even secured a coveted gig at The Bayou in Georgetown over winter break, which turned into a mini-JMU reunion of sorts. Puddleduck brings back a lot of really good, yet slightly beer hazy, memories for me.<\/p>\n Slackjaw <\/strong>– <\/em>I always kind of considered this band to be UVA’s version of Puddleduck. That’s not to say that the two bands had anything in common musically. They didn’t. The band consisted of guys from UVA who started out just playing parties and bars around their campus, just like Puddleduck did at JMU. Of course this means that Slackjaw’s early shows probably had crowds with an overall higher average SAT score and an overall lower average personal attractiveness than Puddleduck’s. I really dug their music though and to this day it takes me days to get the guitar riff from\u00a0AFH<\/em> <\/a>out of my head every time I hear it. I only saw them live a couple times, but the parents of a group of girls we were friends with got Slackjaw to play their graduation party our senior year. Maybe this sort of thing was normal with your circle of friends. To me however, it was like some sort of 1990’s JMU version of the Royal Wedding. I’m easily impressed I guess. I’m telling you though, a couple of kegs of Beast Lite, 3 sleeves of red solo cups, and a college band in the backyard was high society to me back then.<\/p>\n #\u00a02 Pat McGee Band vs. #7 Emmet Swimming\u00a0[polldaddy poll=5150493]<\/strong><\/p>\n Pat McGee Band <\/strong>\u2013<\/em> Todd and I were in the same fraternity in college and these guys played one of our big parties my senior year. We held it at Melrose to\u00a0accommodate\u00a0a larger crowd. The band was really hot at the time, so of course we all used the fact that they were playing as leverage to bring much better looking woman than usual to the party. There was one girl in particular that at least one of our friends invited with hopes of elevating his game for the occasion. As soon as the show ended however, Pat jumped on the bus back to campus with us and promptly spent the night with girl. The lesson, join a band folks. Join a band. I also was at one of their shows at the Bayou once when John Popper from Blues Traveler showed up and played the entire set with them. I sincerely thought I was watching musical history unfold before my very eyes that evening. I walked out of there convinced I had a story that I’d be able to wow people with for years to come. Swing and a miss with that one. Still though, songs like Girl From Athens<\/a><\/em> and Rebecca<\/a><\/a><\/em> could bring the house down back in the day.<\/p>\n Emmet Swimming<\/strong> <\/em>\u2013\u00a0OK, I might as well just come out and say it. I’m pretty sure I never even saw this band play once at JMU. I don’t think I even went to one of their shows anywhere actually. They had that one kinda, sorta recognizable song,\u00a0Arlington<\/a>,<\/em> that I remember. I also recall them getting some decent buzz and folks talking about their potential to blow up. Well, I did a couple quick searches and that definitely didn’t happen. They are playing a free show in my neighborhood a week from Saturday though. Yep, Emmet Swimming is playing the Del Ray Music Festival<\/a>. I love my neighborhood. I love this annual festival. Coachella it is not. In fact I am quite certain that if you went back 10 or 15 years and asked any band in this bracket, “Where do you see yourselves in 2011?”, that “playing a free show in Del Ray for a bunch of families on a Saturday afternoon while a herd of toddlers line up so Bubbo the Clown can paint their faces and make them balloons shaped like a wiener dogs” would not be the first words out of their mouths.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n