Reggae band Backstage Politics wins 18th annual Tri-C High School Rock Off, mon

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Reggae band Backstage Politics won the 18th annual Tri-C High School Rock Off in the Final Exam at the House of Blues on Saturday night.

Look out dynasty: Every member of the band is an underclassman. Keyboard player Tessa Murthy is a junior and at 17, is the eldest member of the band. Lead singer Liz Bullock and guitarist Jackson Bogomolny are sophomores and drummer  Sam Porter and bassist Chandler Bogomolny are in the eighth grade.

In a backstage interview after their win was announced, the excited teens announced that they would be back to defend their title next year, too. Hence, the dynasty.

The band STEVE finished second, followed by The Visitors.

The win came in a night where vocals finally caught up to the musicianship that’s been evident since Jesse Bryson, son of Raspberries guitarist Wally Bryson, won the first installment with his band, Qwasi Qwa.

Murthy and her bandmates agreed that being the last band to take the Scene stage – purely through a random draw – had pluses and minuses.

“There’s so much pressure,’’ said Murthy, noting the quality of the 14 bands that preceded them to the stage.

All agreed that the way the winners were announced – third, then second, then first – added to the anxiety.

“Everybody was saying, ‘That means you win!’’’ said Bullock, 15. But she and her bandmates weren’t so sure.

Next up is recording a complete album.

“But we have to write a lot more songs,’’ said Bullock. The band, which performed all originals, has five songs done. That’s enough for an EP, but they’re looking at doing a full 11-or-more song CD.

That includes the song, "We,'' the recording of which for the the Rock Off compilation CD was chronicled in a Plain Dealer/cleveland.com story.

Bullock’s lilting voice was a shining example of a shift in the Rock Off. The musicianship at the Rock Off has, for all of its 18 years, been exceptional. But the vocals have lagged.

That changed this year. It could be that Live Nation’s Barry Gabel, who created the Rock Off at the Odeon to fill the void between concert tours (and make a few bucks for the company), is right.

“What I have noticed is that year after year, the kids do their homework,’’ Gabel said in a backstage interview. “The kids take pride in doing it right, and they know the only way to do it is practice, practice, practice.’’

Beyond that, they listen to criticism the way it’s intended – as a suggestion of how to get better – and they’ve worked to improve, Gabel said.

As a result, the vocals at this year’s Rock Off, from the opening set by Small Mammals with Scotty McMaster and Rayne Blakeman sharing leads to the last strain of Backstage Politics’ Liz Bullock are undoubtedly the best in the event’s history.

Of course, there were hiccups. But I’ve covered veteran “professional’’ artists – Meat Loaf comes to mind – who were far, far less consistent.

Plus there was a wider range of vocals, too. In years past, different genres seemed to dominate. Early on in the Rock Off’s life, it was ska. Then came alternative, with a few incursions of prog rock, metal and electronica, all in the fore.

In Saturday’s Final Exam, there were examples of indie folk from Maddy Grimm, country pop from Never Surrender and solid metal from Vex, traces of hip-hop from Pearl Road, the blues (sort of British-flavored) from the Pleiades and dead ahead reggae from Backstage Politics.

Vex also had the distinction of having the only drummer as a lead singer, with Russell Jones on the kit and the mike. In their pre-concert bio, the band mentioned that Black Sabbath is one of their influences, and that was clear to see in the Ozzy-style mugging – perfectly in character – from Jones as he belted out tuned after tune

The band also features Johnny Glessner on bass and Jake Buckridge on guitar, but it’s not Buckridge’s only band. He plays with his dad, Donnie, in a classic rock cover band called Power Play.

As the winning band, Backstage Politics gets $1,000 in cash and $250 for its respective high school music program, plus a chance to open for a Live Nation show, an appearance on Tri-C’s cable program “Crooked River Groove’’ as well as gift cards from the Ohio Music Shop.

Steve will split $200 cash and $150 for the school program for finishing second, and the Visitors will divvy up $100.

Earlier in the evening, the Rock Off T-shirt, poster and CD cover winners.

Bryce Reed of Alliance High took home the top T-shirt prize for a design that sported a guitar encircled by a wreath with the name of the competition. Emma Dicker of Kenston High won the poster competition with an image of multiple guitars in varying hues, again with the Rock Off name emblazoned on it. Neil Hoxworth of Manchester High and Elizabeth Woods of Bay High took home the wins for CD cover design.

Each of the three winners walked away with $100.

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