North by Northwestern

After performances from eight bands over the course of two nights at 27 Live, Mayfest announced that Juc e Frut won this year’s Battle of the Bands competition and will be playing on Dillo Day.

The second day of Battle of the Bands kicked off with Turnt, whose chill indie pop jams provided the audience (still shuffling in) with an opportunity to start moving and dancing right away. Songs like “You Scare Too Easily” featured joyful “woos” and an awesome solo from drummer (and Medill sophomore) Tommy Carroll. Pretty much every kind of rock song component that brings a smile to your face (clever lyrics, fast talk-singing, jammy guitar strumming) showed up during their set.

One prominent feature of the 27 Live setup was a screen to the left of the stage. In between performances, this screen displayed the name of the band up next, but while bands were performing, it displayed an image, apparently of the performing band’s choosing. The image displayed during Turnt’s set, a warm fire, perfectly summed up the approachability and enjoyment level of their songs.

Eventual winners Juc E Frut were up next. Their songs started out as relaxed R&B, but then built up from there. Eventually audiences were treated to xylophone solos, rap verses and a final song that had several reggae touches showcasing the diversity of talent among the band members. By the end of their set, the audience was chanting their name, a foreshadowing of the final result. Of course, in the moment there was no clear indication of who would come out on top. Juc E Frut were followed by Nebula, the power pop trio who played at Dance Marathon earlier this year. Their songs were a lot louder and more “powerful,” involving a lot more percussion and hand-clapping. It didn’t matter that it became hard to make out their lyrics, because their power pop was powerful enough in and of themselves.

The final band of the event, Addy, continued the trend of diverse bands that sounded nothing like one another. Addy featured two female singers, Eliza Palasz (Communication junior) and Lillie Cummings (Communication senior), whose voices were by turns haunting and joyful. With bass, keys and drums, there was just a lot of sounds at work in Addy’s set, which provided a nice ending to a diverse lineup of bands.

Juc e Frut will open Dillo Day 2013 on June 1.

Disclaimer: Juc e Frut's live act features NBN Opinion Editor Susie Neilson.