Remember the sneak peek of those custom rock band cards that I shared here on the blog a few months ago?
Well, I haven't posted anything else about them since then. I've hardly even been around, or commented on other blogs lately. But there's good reason. It seems like The Rock Universe appreciated those custom cards enough to want me to experience all eight bands live and on stage. To explain:
A few weeks ago I was transported to a mysterious time and place where I was invited to witness a battle of the bands of unparalleled greatness. The Rock Universe even tasked me with documenting it all on paper so I could share the experience back on this planet, in the present day, right here on this blog.
So you see, I've been out of town. And I mean really out of town.
Here's how the tournament was set up:
There are 8 cards in the set (4 US bands and 4 UK bands), so The Rock Universe created a bracket-style tournament. The draw was set with the four US bands on one side and the four UK bands on the other. All they had to do was battle it out, single elimination style, until a US band and a UK band would meet in the finals.
Here's the bracket, with seeds included:
I'll alternate between draws, featuring a US battle next Sunday, a UK battle the Sunday after that, and so on. And since
I only gave a sneak-peek at the card designs, each blog post will begin with a reveal of the card for both participating bands.
First up, it'll be Van Halen (#1 seed) versus The Doors (#4 seed).
Do
any of the first-round matchups look particularly intriguing to you?
What are your choices for first-round winners? Second-round winners?
Champion?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section. I hope you'll follow along for the next few Sundays. Get ready to rock!
Cool concept. In the US bracket, Kiss over the Ramones easy decision for me. The other matchup is tough but I'd have to take Van Halen over the The Doors. In the UK bracket, Zeppelin over The Who and Sabbath over Queen (another tough matchup). Then I'd have to take Van Halen over Kiss and Zeppelin over Sabbath, with Van Halen the champ.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed choices, Crocodile! Stay tuned -- lots of good matchups to come.
DeleteBefore I break down my picks...
ReplyDeleteA. Sweet customs
B. Thanks. This was super entertaining.
Okay, here are my picks...
Round 1: Van Halen over The Doors, KISS over Ramones, Led Zeppelin over The Who, and Black Sabbath over Queen
There were two tough matchups for me in the first round. KISS only won, because I pretended to be a fan of theirs as a kid and I'm not very familiar with the Ramones. The other toughie was Black Sabbath over Queen. I really like both of those bands.
Round 2: Van Halen over Kiss and Black Sabbath over Led Zeppelin
Van Halen was an easy pick. The UK battle was much, much closer.
Round 3: Van Halen over Black Sabbath
This was really, really tough. In sports terms, Black Sabbath was worn out by the time it faced Van Halen. In music terms, it was close, but ultimately I listen to Van Halen more than Black Sabbath.
Thanks Fuji! I like the sports analogy of one team being more worn out than their competitor at a certain point in the playoffs. That might have happened to one of the bands in this tournament, but you'll have to stay tuned to find out!
DeleteDoors
ReplyDeleteRamones
Doors
Doors should be the 1 seed and VH the 2 seed.
Zep
Queen
Zep
Sabbath should be the 4 seed.
Doors
I'm a Doors fan too, Elliptical Man, but I need to be impartial here. Thanks for adding your picks!
DeleteVan Halen squeaks by the Doors
ReplyDeleteKiss way over the Ramones - Lots of other candidates for #3 there
Zep over the Who in a heartbeat
Sabbath over Queen - toughest call, but the godfathers of metal gotta win
Then Kiss would get by Van Halen only because I don't like DLRoth that much
Zeppelin or Sabbath? Wow, only from the perspective of their entire catalogs - there are a few early Sabbath tunes I am not such a fan of. Zeppelin by a nose.
And Zeppelin wins over Kiss rather easily. Again, with other candidates on the USA side, it might be different. (Not sure who that would be, though)
Appreciate the detailed picks, GCA! If five-man bands were permitted, I think Aerosmith would have made a solid competitor on the US side. Maybe we'll do a separate tourney for five-man bands in the future.
DeleteI'm an editor of the music site DigitalDreamDoor, and Led Zep vs. The Who is probably the longest-running and most contentious topic of conversation in our forums. But that really should have been the matchup in the NEXT round--The Who have a good case for being the greatest live band in rock and roll history. On our list of Greatest Live Rock Artists, they're fourth overall and the highest-ranking group, behind only James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, and Elvis Presley. https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_liveband.html
ReplyDeleteHmmm...going by that list, Van Halen beats The Doors, Kiss edges The Ramones, Queen easily takes out Sabbath, and of course The Who defeats Zep. Personally I'd prefer The Ramones over Kiss (The Ramones and The Who are the only bands in the tournament I've seen live), but there you go.
Yep, The Who weren't happy at all with the #4 seed, and they came out swinging in the first round. No spoiler alerts, though. I'm going to zip it now.
DeleteGoing to check out DigitalDreamDoor -- thanks for all that information!
It's so subjective! Here's mine: Doors over VH (very close battle); Kiss over Ramones, Who over Led Zep (again very close), Sabbath over Queen. Doors over Kiss, Sabbath over Who, Sabbath over Doors.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is subjective, Bo! (As evidenced by all the different picks in this comment section.) Hope you'll tune in for all the action.
DeleteI would pick every single UK band over any of the US ones. Given the bracket I'll go Van Halen over Doors, Ramones over KISS, Led Zeplin over The Who, and Queen over Black Sabbath. Van Halen vs. Led Zeplin in the final, with Led Zeplin the overall winner.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the picks, Matt! The US bands aren't getting much love in the comment section, heheh. Hope you'll stay tuned to see what happens!
DeleteZeppelin would win this for me, and it wouldn't even be close.
ReplyDeleteSolid choice, Jon. But I can't reveal anything here. You'll have to stay tuned!
DeleteLooking forward to the battle! For me, it's Van Halen and KISS for the US, and Zep and Queen for the UK. Van Halen and Queen for the championship, and Queen takes it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the picks, Jafronius! Stay tuned.
Delete