CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
OXYMORONATRON: (from left ) Greg “MC Woodchuck” Schultz, Jason “Robot X5” Sanders, Chris “Captain Montgomery” Thompson, Eric “amERICan Dream” Caro and Karla “Cornbread” Manning.
This time of year, many Daytonians are focused on football. However, there is another fall tradition, the annual Dayton Band Playoffs at Canal Street Tavern, that has local music fans talking.
The 26th installment of the yearly clash of the rock ’n’ titans began on Thursday, June 11. That evening Yazoo Street Scandal, a Yellow Springs band making its first appearance in the playoffs, faced Dangerously Hot, a band of high school students that was knocked out in the third round of last year’s playoffs by eventual winner Magic Jackson.
“This year was interesting because you weren’t sure who was going to get to the finals,” said Canal Street Tavern owner Mick Montgomery. “It wasn’t like last year where Magic Jackson just steamrolled it. The semifinal nights were pretty suspenseful this time and they went down to the wire.”
After 13 weeks and four rounds of sweaty, heartfelt action, the field of 25 participants has been reduced to two remaining combatants: veteran electro-punk outfit Oxymoronatron and unconventional garage folk combo The Turkish Delights.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of loading and unloading gear, doing two sets during weeknights,” said Josh Brothers, singer for The Turkish Delights. “And by no means is Canal Street the authority on who the best band in Dayton really is, but it’s an avenue and outlet to get your music out there and expose yourself to groups of people that otherwise wouldn’t hear you. And for that we’d like to thank Mick Montgomery: thank you Mick!”
Winning the playoffs is certainly no guarantee of future success, but for bands that progress to the later rounds, it does provide plenty of valuable stage time in a professional venue. The experience helped spark the local followings of past winners Audile Influence, Orange Willard, Mona, Clemmer, Shrug and Brainiac.
Come out to Canal Street Tavern on Saturday to find out if Oxymoronatron or The Turkish Delights will join this illustrious list of rock ’n’ roll titans and become part of Dayton music history.
Band Q&A’s
Oxymoronatron
Style of music: Robotic Rock
Formed: 2000
Location: Dayton
Members: Jason “Robot X5” Sanders (vocals, guitar, keys, digital toys), Greg “MC Woodchuck” Schultz (vocals, electro-drums, cowbell), Chris “Captain Montgomery” Thompson (guitar, vocals, Nintendo DS solos), Eric “amERICan Dream” Caro (guitar, vocals) and Karla “Cornbread” Manning (bass, vocals)
Number of times in playoffs: 4
Discography: “Robots Gone Wild” (2004)
More info: www.myspace.com/oxymoronatron
Q How would you describe Oxymoronatron to someone who’d never seen or heard the band?
A If you recast “Revenge of the Nerds” with Devo and the Beastie Boys, you get Oxymoronatron.
Q After so many attempts in the Dayton Band Playoffs, why do you think Oxymoronatron made it to the finals this year?
A The mad robots population is decreasing rapidly due to our successful robotic conquests.
Q If you could bring in one ringer, a musical talent from any time in history, to join you for the final round, who would that be and what special ingredient would he or she bring to the live show?
A Robot X5 would pick James Brown. Captain Montgomery would pick Link (from the “Legend of Zelda” video game) because he’s an amazing ocarina player.
Q What’s next for Oxymoronatron after the Dayton Band Playoffs?
A Dayton Music Fest, new CD, new songs, new tour dates, new friends.
Q When will the band be releasing new product, either on CD or as digital downloads?
A New album by 2010. It will be a party delivered in a shiny wafer.
Q Complete this sentence: More people should know about Oxymoronatron because ...
A ... of our crazy and interactive live show. We feel we’re a unique band because of our crazy, interactive live show (video for your eyes, audio stimulation for your ears, and real live drum robot)
Q If you could put one item, CD, video clip, etc., into a rock ’n’ roll time capsule, what would you select to represent your band to future generations and why?
A The “Robots Gone Wild” DVD because it shows our live show craziness and a couple of music videos in the DVD (“21st Century Robot Love” and “Dance, Dance Revolution”).
The Turkish Delights
Style of music: Pop Art
Formed: September 2008
Location: Dayton, OH
Members: Josh Brothers (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Andy Paxton (drums), Steve Tankersley (guitars, bass) and Jeffro Coffey (bass, keyboards)
Number of times in playoffs: Two of us participated in the tournament once before as members of other bands, but two of us have never participated in the tournament
Discography: We have a handful of home-recordings which we give to anyone at our shows upon request
More info: www.myspace.com/thethetheturkishdelights
Q How would you describe the Turkish Delights to someone who’d never seen or heard the band?
A Musically, lyrically, sonically and structurally, all our songs are intentionally written to be very different from each other, and we have a fantastic drummer! Visually, we are four ugly boys, but we look cute from a distance.
Q Complete this sentence: If the Turkish Delights suddenly ruled the world, our first step would be ...
A MWHAA, HAA, HAA!!! Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?
Q If you could bring in one ringer, a musical talent from any time in history, to join you for the final round, who would that be and what special ingredient would he or she bring to the live show?
A Perhaps a popular diva would suffice, but it’s a tough economy and sex just isn’t selling like it used to. We’d resurrect Michael Jackson as he’d appeal to a large range of ages and ethnic groups, which would ensure us lots of votes. As far as a special ingredient goes, um, like ... the Moonwalk!
Q If you win the finals, what are the plans for your winnings?
A We’ve been contacted by various groups and clubs to play out of town, but are unable to take that step without the necessary means to travel as a group. So we’ll be using whatever money we make to help finance a van that we can travel in together with all of our gear.
Q What’s next for the Turkish Delights after the Dayton Band Playoffs?
A We’ll be playing the Dayton Music Festival the following week and then plan on taking a short break from shows to finish up recording that we started back in May.
Q When will the band be releasing new product, either on CD or as digital downloads?
A Winter 2009/ Spring 2010.
Q Complete this sentence: More people should know about this band because ...
A ... we would like to know more people!
how to go
Who: Dayton Band Playoffs finals with Oxymoronatron and The Turkish Delights
Where: Canal Street Tavern, 308 E. First St., Dayton
When: 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26.
Cost: $8
More info: (937) 461-9343 or www.canalstreettavern.com
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