PHOTOS – University of Limerick Battle of the Bands 2nd round

Picture and Article by I Love Limerick Correspondent Billy Butler. 

On Tuesday 10, February, University of Limerick (UL) Music Society welcomed talented acts from across the country to battle it out in the 2nd round of the UL Roots- Battle of the Bands. The acts included Minus Ten Thousand Hours (Dublin), Pethrophia (Cork) and Bang Bang (Laois).

UL Roots kicked off on the 3^rd of February, with the first round being won by Monday Villains. The overall winners of UL Roots will go on to host UL at the Inter-Varsities Battle of the Bands. UL Music Society will be hoping to retain their title after Lobster Johnson won it for them last year.

To start the second round of UL Roots, Minus Ten Thousand Hours took to the stage with their unusual but hard hitting sound. A strange assortment of riffs gelled together made up a host of Minus Ten Thousand Hour’s originals but this is what made them unique.

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Just as everything is calm, they take you by storm by exploding into a plethora of powerful vocals and hard-hitting riffs, all whilst going wild on stage. To say the least these guys really do offer a unique and enjoyable gig experience with electrical stage presence. To finish off their set with a bang they played ‘I Cut the Gas Line’ with a classical destruction of instruments.

Following Minus Ten Thousand Hours and mellowing out the line-up was Bang Bang who pumped out tunes to swing too. Originals such as ‘Restless Ecstasy’ and ‘I have an Alter Ego’ showed off the bands potential with tasty hooks and solid structure.

Bang Bang had a really good sound and I almost felt a hint of Arctic Monkeys shine through their music. With these combinations you could really see these guys playing big shows in time to come. Bang Bang provided a great set and are certainly a band to check out.

To finish the night off was Pethrophia, blowing the roof off of the Stables. They really brought the head banger out in all of us with their insanely Heavy Metal music. Pethrophia are not for the faint hearted but their set really got the crowd going.

Pethrophia are a solid Heavy Metal band with explosive vocals, pumping drum and bass and all the solos you can eat! To top the whole night off they even got a mosh going… sure it wouldn’t be the same without one.

Overall the night provided us with a great variety of genres to sink our teeth into. Although Minus Ten Thousand Hours and Pethrophia played great sets it was Bang Bang who came out triumphant in the second round of the UL Roots. They will join the winners of the first round, Monday Villains in the UL Roots final next Tuesday the 17th. The winners of the first and second round will also be joined by Handstand, the winners of the wildcard vote.

You can checkout:
Minus Ten Thousand Hours here
Pethrophia here
Bang Bang here

To keep an eye out for UL Roots and the Inter-Varsities Battle of the Bands, you can check out UL Music Society here.
You can read more on music here.

Pictures by Billy Butler for I Love Limerick 2015. All Rights Reserved.