Two bands featuring Streetsboro High School students competed at the sold out House of Blues to be named the best high school band February 2nd. Although they worked hard to get to the finals, neither Beyond Beauty nor Eclyptic placed in the competition.
Bands from all over Northeast Ohio sent in CDs and demos to be graded but only 72 were selected to perform. Out of those 72 semifinalists, two bands featuring students from Streetsboro High School made “The Final Exam” for the 12th Annual Tri-C High School Rock Off.
Beyond Beauty and Eclyptic performed alongside 17 other bands all vying to be named the best high school band around. At stake for the winner was $500 in cash and a $1,000 gift card from Sam Ash Music.
The winning band also will get to appear on a Tri-C cable program called “Crooked River Groove” where they will perform a 45-minute concert in front of a live studio audience. They will also be given the opportunity to be featured on “Words & Music”, an Emmy Award-winning program, where they will be interviewed and have an exclusive performance. The winning band will also have a chance to open for a national act at the House of Blues. In addition the school of the winning band will be granted $200 for their high school band fund.
In attendance at the sold-out final competition at the House of Blues were friends, families, and loyal fans willing to rock out at a moment’s notice. The nine judges were industry insiders including record company executives who graded each band bases on musicianship, originality, and stage presence.
“I thought they probably would have been looking for marketability, tightness, overall musicianship and performance. The results were really counterintuitive,” said lead guitarist senior Eric Copenhaver.
Scoring first place was the art-punk influenced Thee TV Oh Dees from Avon High School. Their quirky performance clearly set them out above the rest. The keyboard was held up by an old ironing board and the keyboardist took Polaroids during the set and thrown them into the crowd.
Although neither band from Streetsboro placed, the judges still enjoyed the sets.
“I think all of the bands were very good. There really wasn’t a weak one there and I was surprised by that,” said Judge Matt Williams, the Marketing Manager from Trans World Entertainment. He said Beyond Beauty was a “very tight band” and thought they had “good interaction with the crowd.”
Sophomore Cailey Schwind sang lead vocals with Copenhaver right by her side on the lead guitar. Junior Desiree Boardwine provided rhythm and sang backup vocals with sophomore Sarah Henderson, who doubles as the keyboardist. Sophomore Billy Bejger played the bass and Sam Stakel from Hudson High School banged at the drums. A crowded stage, but they won over the audience nonetheless. Amidst their performance of songs, including fan favorite “Salt in My Wound,” crowd surfers made their way to the front while the rest of the audience was dancing to the music.
“It was scintillating really because it’s a large venue and such a large number of people vastly more important than me have performed there,” said Copenhaver.
Eclyptic drummer, senior Eric Bobek, also enjoyed playing at the House of Blues.
“The Rock Off was one of the most memorable experiences playing with my band,” said Bobek. He said he loved playing the same stage that bands like Rush and Marilyn Manson had once performed on.
Veterans of the Rock Off, Eclyptic got the crowd going will no effort at all. The audience danced, cheered and surfed as Eclyptic played their last performance in the Rock Off.
“I thought Eclyptic was awesome. I thought they would definitely place,” said senior Doug Tackett, who is Beyond Beauty’s roadie.
Judge Williams also enjoyed Eclyptic’s performance, especially the vocals.
“Guitar playing was great, too, and they all seemed to play off of each other well,” he said.
Although the consensus was that both bands did exceptionally well, there were still some things they could have improved on, according to this judge.
“Eclyptic just needs a little more interaction with the crowd,” said Williams. As for Beyond Beauty, he said they need to be more of a “group” and “just needs some extra support in the mix.”
There were some technical difficulties during Beyond Beauty’s performance, however, they pulled through.
To be eligible to compete in the Rock Off all members of the band must be enrolled in grade 12 or lower at time of performance, making this year Eclyptic’s final performance.
Now that they are ineligible to compete again, the band is looking for other projects. Eclyptic is playing a show February 29 at The Robin Hood in Kent.
Copenhaver said Beyond Beauty is learning from this experience.
“We’re becoming more comfortable with each other as a band and with ourselves with performing,” he said. Beyond Beauty plans to out an album this summer, “if we get noteworthy songs together.”
The future still shines bright for both bands. Whatever the bands will be doing, they will take this experience with them. As for Beyond Beauty, there are not any competitions or performances scheduled as of press time.
“We are going to focus on songwriting and the album,” said Copenhaver.
Whitney Clayton