Music Blog

Music Blog

Pacific Grove's Mozzo Kush Blows the Lid Off Battle of the Bands

High School Battle of the Band competitions could be painful to watch. Sometimes it's worth a little pain to have the opportunity to witness gold.

Pacific Grove High's Mozzo Kush was the final band to perform at Friday night's 2nd annual Monterey Bay High School Battle of the Bands at P.G. Middle School (presented by the Foundation for Performing Arts Center Pacific Grove). And their set blew the competition—including Monterey High's The Absent and Mayhem and Marina High's The So-Delights—away.

The foursome—guitarists Kyler Mello and Brent Smith, bassist Mikey Cho and drummer Taylor Jones—shredded through five tunes with the panache of seasoned veterans. In addition to taking home the $500 top prize that also includes a performance at the Moto GP in June, Kush was the only band called back for an encore, which came in the form of an improvised funk jam.

The band's energy initiated a flood of high schoolers twirling rapidly in front of the stage as if they were grooving to Phish. That further fueled Kush's already-blazing fire. "All the audience participation made the show awesome and we love that people like our music," Smith says.

If you didn't get the chance to see Kush this time around, they're set to open for space rockers, the White Hills, Saturday, May 12, at the Alternative Cafe. Check out the Weekly on Thursday for the full story.

In the soloist/duet category, Carmel High duo Angels in the Alps, won first place for the second year in a row. The twosome—featuring vocalist Melanie Ingram and cellist Kane Suga—delivered a couple tunes with pristine skill. On the group's cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," Ingram masterfully hit every note as if her life depended on it.

The other noteworthy performers are both products of Monterey High. Fluffy-haired Vincent Randazzo relayed wise-beyond-his-years lyrics with ease and charm. And gentle giant A Silent Remark, showed off some killer vocal chops, which closely resembled Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst.

Who knows what talent will show up next year.