2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble Roundup (Preliminary Round)

We're all winners.

Well, the Preliminary Round of the 2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble has drawn to a close. Congratulations to The Rationals, Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance, Ghosts Of Jupiter, Cask Mouse, Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck and Motherboar for taking their nights. Thick Shakes and Sherman Burns earned themselves a chance to continue on in the event by snagging the wildcard selections. With that, the Semifinal round is set:

Semifinal Night #1 / Thursday, April 12

9:30 – Thick Shakes (Wildcard)
10:15 – Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck
11:00 – Cask Mouse
11:45 – Motherboar

Semifinal Night #2 / Friday, April 13

9:30 – Sherman Burns (Wildcard)
10:15 – Ghosts of Jupiter
11:00 – The Rationales
11:45 – Garvy J.

Both shows are at TT’s. Doors at 8:30pm. Tickets are available at the TT’s website: www.ttthebears.com

In case you missed any of the action, here are links to the photos and recaps of each Preliminary round set. I was lucky enough to catch all of the bands. Thanks to Anngelle Wood for putting the whole thing together and to all of the bands for making it a blast.

Sunday, April 1

The Grownup Noise (withdrew due to injury)
Endless Wave
The Rationales took Night #1.
Cooling Towers

Monday, April 2

Thick Shakes took the wildcard.
Animal Talk
Garvy J. And The Secret Pockets Of Hope And Resistance took Night #2.
Grey Valley Ghost

Tuesday, April 3

The Susan Constant
The Tin Thistles
Ghosts of Jupiter took Night #3.
Letterday

Thursday, April 5

Cask Mouse took Night #4.
Never Got Caught
Parlour Bells
The Fagettes

Friday, April 6

Pray For Polanski
BrownBoot
Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck took Night #5.
The Bynars

Saturday, April 7

The Grinds
Sherman Burns took the wildcard.
Motherboar took Night #6.
Streight Angular

Streight Angular @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.7.2012

Streight Angular and their DayGlo entourage took to the TT’s stage to close out the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble preliminary round. I couldn’t think of a better band for this slot. Streight Angular didn’t take their night, but they threw one hell of a party. Something tells me they’re OK with that…

Preliminary Night #6 Winner: Motherboar

Motherboar @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.7.2012

I’m going to keep this one short. Motherboar took Prelim Night #6 with the most ferocious Rumble set I’ve ever seen. Awesome.

Sherman Burns @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.7.2012

I don’t know what I was expecting from Sherman Burns on Preliminary Night #6 of The Rumble, but it certainly wasn’t this. This was a full on sonic assault delivered with deadly precision. It was impressive. I kept watching bassist Andrew Mildenberg wondering what would happen first, him flubbing a note or his head flying off. Thankfully, I don’t think either happened.

Preliminary Night #6 Winner: Motherboar

The Grinds @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.7.2012

How have I not seen The Grinds before? I’ve seen everybody in the band perform before. I’ve intended to see them before. Thank you Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble for finally getting me to see The Grinds. Their set to open Preliminary Night #6 proved what I always suspected. I really like The Grinds.

Preliminary Night #6 Winner: Motherboar

The Bynars @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.6.2012

I love the Rumble. It brings out the best in bands. The Bynars had all of their blips, bleeps, pings, pongs and blurps in perfect alignment during their set at TT’s for Preliminary Night #5 of the 2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble. The catchy pop tunes underneath it all were precision tuned. The Bynars also had their sense of humor engaged, subtly pointing out that the song they had just played, “Dancing In The Dark”, was a cover. Well done.

Preliminary Night #5 Winner: Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck

Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.6.2012

Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck won over the Rumble judges with some amazing musicianship. These guys play to the song so well. They gather ’round Bow’s gritty tales, pick them up and carry them along to wherever they need to go.

Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck take Preliminary Night #5.

Brownboot @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.6.2012

Brownboot slayed. The band’s Rumble set had the feeling of a huge rock n’ roll band playing a secret show in a small club as a treat to their die hard fans. The guitars were loud, the songs brought the house down and everyone got sweaty. Talk about a band rising to the occasion. This was Brownboot’s finest moment. That was one hell of a show.

Preliminary Night #5 Winner: Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck

Pray For Polanski @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.6.2012

Pray For Polanski kicked of Rumble Preliminary Night #5 with a set of fierce, angular riffs and intense vocals. Their songs feel very personal yet strangely detached. I was caught pleasantly off-guard, much like guitarist Aviv Rubinstien was when he tripped over his amp. Aviv came up smiling and so did I. Once again, The Rumble has turned me on to a cool band.

Preliminary Night #5 Winner: Bow Thayer And Perfect Trainwreck

The Fagettes @ T.T. The Bear’s Place 4.5.2012

The Fagettes were on fire last night. The band closed out Preliminary Night #4 of The Rumble with a set that burned hot and fast, leaving a trail of wreckage that included one bass amp and dozens of delightfully confused TT’s patrons. That’s life in a rock n’ roll band…

Preliminary Night #4 Winner: Cask Mouse