Beanpot Battle of the Bands

For university students around Boston, February brings not thoughts of Valentine's Day but of the Beanpot, the infamous hockey showdown featuring Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, and Harvard. Three years ago, a new Beanpot tradition was started with Qdoba's Rice and Bean Pot, an intercollegiate competition in both speed eating and song. The Rice and Bean Pot brings competitors from BC, BU, Northeastern, and Harvard together to vie for the championship in a relay-style burrito-eating battle.

For this year's competition, each school held preliminary contests in preparation for the finals, which took place Thursday night. The finals were held at the Paradise Rock Club, a legendary Commonwealth Avenue concert hall famous for being the first venue U2 played at in the United States. The bands competing were Brian Bergeron and the Late Greats, Bluebook Addiction, Beautiful Lies, and So Long Princess, from Northeastern, Boston College, Boston University, and Harvard, respectively. These student groups were nominated and selected via text message. Bluebook Addiction beat out Montview, another BC band, for BC's spot in the show.

The Paradise was packed with students from the four competing schools engaging in a friendly rivalry not unlike that found at the Beanpot hockey games. While the atmosphere during the bands' performances was mellow, save for a crowd of drunk girls that rocked out groupie-style in the front row, members of the audience cheered zealously for their respective schools. Teams of four sat on an elevated platform and devoured burritos laced with hot sauce. The reigning champs from BU finished their four burritos in only one minute and 23 seconds, beating out the less voracious BC contenders. The BC competitors should take their loss as a compliment to the fact that they come from one of the fittest schools in America.

The four bands played half-hour sets that were interspersed with periods of excessive burrito consumption. Bluebook Addiction brought to the show an alternative punk rock sound reminiscent of Saves the Day, and even got fans in the crowd singing along to their headline piece. Northeastern's band, Brian Bergeron and the Late Greats, showed a more low-key side with music that has been described as "acoustic folk-rock for the stargazer." So Long Princess, in true Harvard style, brought a little originality to the mix as the only Star Wars tribute band in the contest. The audience wasn't put off by the space-age theme. So Long Princess set lyrics to classic rock music that was appreciated by all (perhaps because the words were difficult to hear above the deafening sound equipment). The questionable sound quality, however, was compensated for by the band's eccentric stage performance. Beautiful Lies, yet another lively performing group, had a more alternative sound.

The winner, chosen by audience participation, was Bluebook Addiction. This nod to Boston College's home-grown musical talent gives Bluebook Addiction the chance to headline their own show at Paradise Rock Club. Keep your eye on The Scene for more information about the concert, because Bluebook Addiction is a band that deserves your support.