(this is one recording of it; it's slightly better than the one here, but they're both not great)
So, in keeping with our theme of postmodernism in the real world, I'd like to talk briefly about The Jennings Brothers and their <genre> Band. The band's origins lie in the 2012 Battle of the Bands, again put on by the Champaign Park District. At that time, the guitarist and the bassist were in a band known as Bad Columbus with a third party not shown here. In point of fact, that band still exists and is working on either their second EP or their first LP. However, this story is in 2012 right now, when Bad Columbus was snubbed for second place at the Battle of the Bands (first place earned it, second was pretty bad, and third was Bad Columbus). Micky and Ricky were displeased with the result, and a plan slowly formulated. Gathering together a group of friends, they began to develop an idea for the next battle, in 2013.
When it came time for the 5th annual CPD BotB, the group announced their development as The Jennings Brothers and their Surfaboogie Band. With the band came the new personas: "It's Micky! *clapclap* *clap* Ricky! *clapclap* *clap* Dicky! *clapclap* *clap* and Tito! *music begins*" Ostensibly, the band was parodying surfer rock and surfer/stoner culture. In actuality, however, the band served as a way for the group to playfully mock and vent about the battle and the way it worked.
(2013 performance at the 5th battle)
For example, the bassist introduces their final song with the story of "Billy Bob the Surfin' Dog." Originally, they just planned to introduce their last song and get into it. However, one of the bands that played before them had dedicated a song to victims of (if I remember correctly) Hurricane Sandy (Note that the battle was in March of 2013, and Sandy struck in October of 2012). The band, feeling that this was a cheap ploy for sympathy attached to a song that ultimately had no relation to any tragedies, decided to parody the act of dedicating a song, by dedicating their song to the death of fictional Surfin' Dog Billy Bob (he died the way he lived, being swept away by a tidal wave). For their efforts, they were met with allegedly artificially lowered scores by judges who didn't appreciate a band mocking the institution of the battle.
This past weekend saw the next and most likely final evolution of the Jennings Brothers, their Electro-Pop Band. They added a new brother, our very own Colin Althaus (in canon, adopted brother "Chow Mein Jennings") to play keyboard as they once again took the stage. After their previous battle, the band had decided that in addition to further developing their personas, they would tighten up their musical performance, in order to stand a better chance of placing in the top three (who receive a paid gig to perform sometime in the spring for the Champaign Park District). However, they still intended to, as they put it, "not just stand on the stage stiff and straight-faced and act like we're not having fun."
They brought out a new version of "Billy Bob the Surfin' Dog," "Billy Bjork the Clubbin' Dog" (who was killed in a disco accident wherein a "Category 9 earthquake" striking Berlin caused a disco ball to fall upon Billy Bjork, which he did not survive). They played Rick Astley's timeless classic, Never Gonna Give You Up. They brought together the 80s and the BotB in a playful joke at the expense of the people who put on the show. But, ultimately, it was not enough, and the band was not able to place in the top three. Most of the members, who are all but one seniors in high school, do not intend to play again next year ("It would be kinda weird for a college kid to be [there]"), and so our only chance to see a new iteration of The Jennings Brothers and their <genre> Band, at one of the reward shows, was thwarted. In a text message later, one member diverged that "[one of the judges] gave us a fair score but the other two guys shat all over us." Again, members and fans alike alleged against the judges that they had purposefully given the band a low score to prevent them from placing (This year's third place winner, Rocket Nostril(? or Rocket Earhole? or Rocket Mouth? or Rocket Eyeball?), was honestly very bad. Just, really, terribly awful. Not even because the songs they picked weren't good choices or because they didn't perform them well enough, but because they didn't have the talent to perform them at all. Sorry, personal rant over). This, of course, or the ever-present Illuminati held back the band from the performance of their destinies. But, we may never know what truly happened. In the end, we can only agree on one thing; the world just wasn't ready for The Jennings Brothers.
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| (Indisputable proof of the true culprits) #exposeBOTB |
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