SASKATOON - The late Tom Petty, the legendary rock n' roll musician whose music spoke to generations of people, once said the following:
“Music really isn’t supposed to be perfect. It’s all about people relating to each other and doing something that’s really from the soul. It must come from the soul.”
That statement seems to apply to Outlook's very own rock group, Bad Influence, who came, went, and delivered big in Round Three of The Roxy's Band Wars competition.
As a result, the band left the Saskatoon venue on Thursday night, April 20 with some notable prize money and a great opportunity in front of them.
The quartet, consisting of lead vocalist Syhra Ellis, guitarist Josh Rude, bassist Bailey Parr-Kennedy, and drummer Scot Wallace, ended up taking second place in the competition, but the band was still ecstatic over their ranking and could be seen embracing when the news was revealed. For their efforts, Bad Influence will receive $500 in prize money, and they'll also co-headline a show back at The Roxy after the upcoming Nickelback concert that takes place at the SaskTel Centre on Thursday night, June 22.
The first place winner of Band Wars was Estevan native Lara Taillon, an actor/musician who rocked the stage with a commanding charisma that was undoubtedly noticed by the judges. By taking the top spot, Lara and her band will receive $1000 in prize money, a three-song professional demo recording session, and an opportunity to headline their own show in the near future.
Each band that performed was given a requirement that their sets had to consist of all-original material, and in their four-song set, Bad Influence enjoyed a raucous time with a very vocal audience and made the stage their own. Their spot included a guest vocalist, Marshall Rude, who joined the band onstage for the song 'Cool Fever' and injected some attention-grabbing rapping skills into the song, adding another layer and something uniquely different to the music that was heard on the city stage that night.
The rest of the band's set included fan favorites 'Howling', 'Give It To Me', and 'Hellwings', bringing their show to a close and garnering thunderous applause from the audience, which included many Outlook fans who made it out to the concert.
For their part, the band was blown away with their success in the competition and were grateful to have such a monumental showing of support from the Outlook community and beyond.
Local rock fans can check out Bad Influence in concert when they perform at the upcoming Prairie Festival in Outlook on Saturday night, May 27.
