Vecar, who played in Bakersfield College’s Free Speech Area twice during Spring Fling week and opened for Vanilla Ice on March 20 at the Nile Bar and Grill, was the best band in the Battle of the Bands competition at the Nile on March 6 that allowed them the aforementioned opportunity.
However, I disagree with how the voting for the competition was conducted, as the majority of the audience was not present for Vecar’s performance and had no say on their victory.
Everyone at the Nile under 21, which included practically every performer from the other four groups, were forced to leave at 10 p.m. because the club, as a condition of its liquor license, was not allowed to have people under the legal drinking age inside.
I understand that the Nile has to follow laws against underage drinking, which were created for justified reasons, but for the club to declare a winner to the competition that not everyone present could vote for is unfair. I guess it could be argued, though, that even if everyone were there, Vecar would win anyway because they would still have the same number of positive votes, if not more.
While I was one of those who got tossed out for Vecar’s performance, I was able to judge from their show at BC on March 11 that they have an original vibe lacking in all of the other groups who played.
Front man Paul Paramo has a British-sounding singing voice and sparse guitar style that effectively combines modern effects with vintage blues scales. The group overall is reminiscent of (but not carbon copies of) The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys in the way they use polyphonic harmonies and danceable rhythms. They are also adept at incorporating different genres into their songs, with some supplementing elements of rockabilly, funk, post-punk and ’90s alternative rock to their modern sound.
The only thing that bugs me about Vecar is that at some of their shows, including the Battle of the Bands show at the Nile, they have one person who is solely designated to play the tambourine. It adds a nice percussive element, but it gets a little dry. If they really wanted to expand their sound, they need to give the tambourine player some other forms of auxiliary percussion.
According to Paramo, the diverse crowd that gathered to see Vanilla Ice made for “a weird scene we were playing to.”
“There were two die-hard fans [of Vanilla Ice], which gave me a kick.”
All of the opportunities Vecar has had during this month has come with much fatigue and the need for them to think of the future. “A lot of people were asking to do a lot of things. We need to slow down and figure out how we’re going to do this financially.”
One could tell that the other groups at the Battle of the Bands lacked experience and expansive musical palettes. The first three groups, which were Fluorescent Skunk (which they spelled with a cent sign), Above Authority and Rebel Faith, seemed to blend together in a malaise of violent screams that would have been better executed by a dentist’s drill and insistent power chords.
The group that went before Vecar, Buried Without A Casket, actually had some skill behind their played-out style of metal. The drummer had a couple impressive fills and a nice solo after the whole ensemble was done. But like the majority of local bands, there was nothing that separated them from their apparent influences.
If I had actually seen Vecar play at the Battle of the Bands and if the other bands had been better, I would give it a higher rating.