Band has bragging rights
Colonel Gray and Charlottetown Rural students battle it out on stage
Sam Rainnie took to the stage with his band at Charlottetown Rural for the firstever battle of the bands. Rainnie approached the microphone sporting an American flag baseball cap and sunglasses.
He looked out at the audience.
“We’re the Black Eyed Peas,” he said.
The crowd laughed. Then they started to play a cover of Photograph by Nickelback. People in the audience laughed and applauded. Some banged their heads to the beat and held up devil’s hands.
As the song came to an end, Rainnie turned to the drummer Johnny Wang. There was a pause. Then Wang started from the chorus.
The crowd cheered. Each time the band came to the end of the song they started from the chorus. One run was performed slowly.
The audience chanted: “Faster.”
But Wang put down his sticks and shook his wrists. He shouted.
“Too sore.”
He paused for a second. Then looked at the band. Suddenly he picked up the sticks and attacked the drums. Rainnie struggled to keep up. The audience cheered and laughed.
The battle of the bands event was part of an initiative being hosted by the schools’ student councils. On March 30 around 30 people came to watch students battle it out on stage with their instruments. The theme of the initiative is Rural versus Gray.
Jad Ghiz is the event co-ordinator for the Colonel Gray student council and one of the people behind the idea of Rural versus Gray.
The whole point of the initiative was to bring students from both schools closer together, said Ghiz.
He knew Tanuj Fernando, the student council president at Charlottetown Rural.
They met up over coffee in September and started laying the groundwork.
The initiative includes other events such as a Nerf gun battle a dodge-ball tournament. And it isn’t just athletics, said Colonel Gray student council co-presidents Daniel Lim and Matt Connolly.
When schools compete against one another it is often through sports, said Lim.
“We wanted to tackle the arts.”
In addition to battle of the bands there will also be an art battle, said Connolly.
“It’s about meeting new people and creating a friendly rivalry,” he said. Fernando agrees. “Once we get the rivalry going, even though it is minute, it’s fun to play off of it.”
The student councils have been brought together, and that is a great thing, he said.
“It leads up to future events being planned.”
Even though he won’t be around next year, Fernando hopes next year’s council continues the initiative.
“I hope they keep it running for 2017 and 2018 for sure.”
Fernando was pleased by the high energy of the crowd and performers at battle of the bands, he said.
He’s not alone. Rainnie and his band were pleased by the audience’s response, said Rainnie.
“The whole point was to make them laugh, and I think we did that.”