By Andrew Aziz
The tension has been building for hours. Finally, two men climb into the ring. The sequins adorning their tight-fitting wrestling masks shimmer in the intense spotlight. As they brazenly raise their arms above their heads the din of the crowd intensifies.
A moment later, the men are joined in the ring by two geeky-looking twenty-somethings. The wrestlers and the geeks stand opposite each other, staring each other down. One of the geeks adjusts his tie. One of the masked men reaches into his pocket, slowly draws out an iPod and plugs it in.
The masked man hits play. Instantly, the near-capacity crowd shouts with glee as the old-school sound of Maestro Fresh Wes fills the concert hall.
The battle has begun.
Since its release in 2001, the iPod has been touted as a landmark invention that is changing the way people listen to and purchase music. Now, the ubiquitous portable jukebox is at the centre of an avant-garde nightclub fad that has just had its Ottawa debut: the iPod battle.
The concept of the iPod battle was forged in the trendy Parisian nightclub Le Paris-Paris and quickly made its way across the pond to the Montreal club scene. Local DJ outfit Disorganised picked up on the success of the musical showdowns and brought the iPod battle to Barrymore’s Music Hall last month.
Battle organizers invite teams of music enthusiasts together to square off against each other in a clash of musical choice supremacy.
Standing in the centre of the simulated boxing ring, the referee draws names written on scraps of paper to decide which teams will face off.
Once in the ring, the first team selects the song they feel will most likely elicit praise from the crowd. After a few minutes, the opposing team is invited to play their selection.
Each team is allotted four music selections before the referee measures the crowd’s appreciation with an applause-o-meter. The winner of the bout will then proceed to the next round while the loser is ejected from the match.
While launching the right tune at the right time is key to a participant’s success, appearance and overall enthusiasm cannot be underestimated.
Teams are encouraged to dance passionately along with their song selection as they flaunt their outlandish Halloween-like outfits.
And with costumes varying from a kamikaze pilot to a drag queen to Darth Vader, Ottawa participants didn’t disappoint.
Dressed in a prisoner’s orange jumpsuit, Team Kelp’s Jon Bartlett established himself as a crowd favourite when he leapt onto a stage railing, stripped down to a pair of short-shorts and sprayed beer all over himself and anyone nearby.
However, his antics proved to be too much for Barrymore’s staff who ejected him from the premises in round two. “I guess they thought I was hamming it up a little too much,” Bartlett said in an interview following the show.
Adam Saikaley from geek-themed Team Mocking Music pointed out that going first in an event like this can be a disadvantage.
“I was really scared,” Saikaley said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
But when faced with a flurry of retro-rap from their opponents, Team Mocking Music hit back with some electronic dance and won the bout.
Despite the importance of feeling the vibe of the evening, musical combatants proved to be surprisingly divergent in their selection of songs.
While some made safe selections of popular club tracks like Sir-Mix-A-Lot’s Baby Got Back, others went out on a limb in an apparent attempt to attract the nostalgic vote. At one point, spectators fell silent with bewilderment as the theme song from Beverly Hills 90210 rang out over the sound system.
Of course, like most trends, it is difficult to predict the long-term acceptance of the quirky, interactive musical showdown. But the variation of genres – from rock to dance to rap – with a retro twist, undeniably struck a chord with the predominantly Generation Y audience.
“I like it,” said spectator Tim McIntyre. “It’s a great format for a bar because you’re not hearing the same old songs all the time and it’s interactive.”
Even Barrymore’s staff members admitted that they were surprised the event managed to almost fill the hall to its 400-person capacity.
The foot-stomping crowd maintained its enthusiasm until 2 a.m., when organizers finally crowned Team No Format champion of the city’s inaugural iPod battle.
The exhausted revellers eventually melted off into the wee hours of the morning, leaving a sticky dance floor full of broken bottles in their wake.
While organizers have yet to plan a follow-up bout, it is obvious that Ottawa’s battle for iPod supremacy has only just begun.