Friday, May 22, 2009
Steamboat Springs — You have to hand it to the Steamboat Springs annual Teen Battle of the Bands: The thing runs smoothly. On Friday, six groups of teenage musicians took the ballroom stage at Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel to play a wide mix of styles, from punk to reggae to hardcore to hip-hop.
Acoustic reggae band Knock on Wood took first place, but the night didn't have any especially weak acts. The Westons craftily mashed up the Black Eyed Peas and Sublime with songs I hadn't heard since the beginning of high school; Fistful of Flamingos turned out a set of strong, self-written acoustic rock songs; the co-lead singers of After Shock wailed through a set of covers; Basically Sound opened with a gutsy duo set; and Silence the Followers marked 2009 as the second year in a row - at least of the years I've been - where a tightly wound hardcore band seemed to be the Battle crowd favorite.
Kat-N-Tha-Hat filled minimal lag time between sets, bringing a few crowd members up for an emcee-off toward the end of the night and freestyling over beats by stage manager and local drummer Jesse Calhoon.
With a week left to go before its grand opening, Ghost Ranch Saloon opened its doors to friends, supporters and curious locals Saturday.
It was the most people I've ever seen at a soft opening, and for good reason: There's been anticipation surrounding the possible opening of a music venue with a permanent stage, full-force sound and light system, band amenities and focus on entertainment since those things left town with the closing of Levelz. Ghost Ranch has all that, along with a strong summer lineup - and a few kinks.
Music coming from the stage played well to a full room, but talking didn't. The LED light boards behind the band looked great from stage right, but they were on the blinding side from stage left. A huge bar staff working two service computers made it easy to order a drink but difficult to pay for it.
Those things might be worked out by the time The Informants take the Ghost Ranch stage today; it could take a little while to have everything running according to plan. When that happens, I don't see Ghost Ranch having any trouble finding bands to play or people to see them.
