Kiran Elfenbein

Last night, Battle of the Bands 2025 kicked off an evening of eight student-band sets with a bang, as rock group Kaleidoscope played a rendition of “Sex on Fire” by the Kings of Leon. The group started the night with high-energy and an at-capacity crowd in the Pub. That energy continued for the rest of its set, finishing with a heartfelt performance of “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap.

Next up was Solitto, in its second Battle of the Bands appearance. The band played the hit “Rectangular” by Sean Stephens and continued its medley with an original song “Walk it Off,” an  MJ Lenderman tune and another original, “Rat Hole”—an ode to the internet-famous Chicago rat hole.

Drummer Will Churchill ’27 described Solitto’s rehearsal process.

“We [only] practiced once this semester for probably less than an hour.… I’ve been playing with the guys at Solitto for a while, and I feel like we mesh very well, and we play very well and easily together. In rehearsal, we pick it up pretty quickly,” Churchill said.

First-year band Pariah started off its set with a room-shaking performance of “Killing in the Name Of” by Rage Against the Machine. A mosh pit spontaneously opened up as the band continued its high-octane set, and it ended on “Drain You” by Nirvana. It enjoyed chants of “Pariah!” as it packed out.

When asked if she was nervous to perform in front of a packed audience, drummer Maya Funez ’28 expressed no nerves.

“I think it’s just exciting. I haven’t seen a lot of these bands perform, and I’m just really hyped to see them,” Funez said.

Senior band Fish Escalator, whose name is inspired by real-world fish ladders, came with a lighting change, and soon, the whole Pub was stomping in unison to Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” As Frances Hornbostel ’25 began to pack out with her band, Fish Escalator departed the stage to the familiar chorus of “One more song!”

The band formed through an organic process of friendship and curation, slowly coming together over the last four years. The members only started practicing together last semester, and it was the first time on stage for many band members.

“At its core, we are five seniors who just desperately wanted to be in a band for our last year,” Issie Gale ’25 said.

Recently formed band Princess Magic Girls might have looked quite familiar to many attendees. Many of the members make up Far From Juno, which is currently on hiatus as a member studies abroad. Any similarity ends there, however: Princess Magic Girls delivered a raw set brimming with energy, erring more on the side of punk than pop. It had the whole crowd headbanging along to “Drain You” at the end of its set.

Drummer Courtney Burnett ’26 talked about forming the band.

“Myself, Jacob Goodman [’26] and Annabella Williams [’26]… held open auditions for a guitarist, which was kind of dramatic, but it was worth it because we found Angel Navarro. He’s awesome. And [lead singer] Ymir [St. George ’25]—I was going to start a band with her last semester, actually, but I just didn’t have time. We’ve only had a few rehearsals, but we sound really solid,” Burnett said.

Coldwater Crisis was next up, a self-described “hard rock” band who played some originals, like “No Sin, No Win” and “Gifted Kid Burnout Isn’t Real, You Just Were Never Gifted.” The band shook the Pub with its songs and got people dancing again. The band switched up the energy for the end of its set, leaving to the sound of “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne.

Bassist Andrew Rosenstein ’27 talked about the band’s songwriting process.

“We’re doing a couple of originals in our set, which I’m super excited about. One half of a draft [was] written by Alex [Richardson ’25], our singer and other guitarist. He brought that to us, and we, over the course of the past two weeks or so, workshopped it into a complete song that works with the vibe we’re going for,” Rosenstein said.

The band Josh Klein, not to be confused with the Bowdoin sophomore Josh Klein ’27, opened with Alvvays’ 2013 hit “Archie, Marry Me.” Its set was mellower, but no less engaging as it played through “Nomad” by Clairo. Drummer Churchill performed another MJ Lenderman song after his earlier performance with Solitto. For its final song, “Black Licorice” by Peach Pit, the crowd started a friendly mosh pit, following the urging of its lead singer Lorca Peña Nissenblatt ’27.

YONC performed last and inspired the crowd to pair off and dance with one another, following its “Neo Celtic” stylings. The band, made up of Colin Vernet ’25, Mia Schwartz ’25 and Emma Barker ’25, featured two violins, a guitar and lilting harmonies. Its instrumental breaks were a fitting end to the battle, and at the end of its performance, Schwartz briefly crowd-surfed.

Pariah took first place, followed by Kaleidoscope and Josh Klein. Members of Pariah were overjoyed and surprised, and bassist Theo Strauss ’27 voiced what the band was feeling.

“It was crazy to win as a first year band. This is like our third show, and seeing all the other bands that played with us, all the other amazing talent, it just feels so special to be here and to be recognized and to contribute to the wider music scene,” Strauss said.

The judges—rowing Head Coach Doug Welling, mail clerk Jen Turgeon, Professor of Biology and Neuroscience Hadley Horch and biology laboratory instructor Beth Whalon—expressed how difficult their job was this year.

“It was really hard, everyone was incredible—so many different styles, such a great feeling in the room,” Horch said.

Lorca Peña Nissenblatt ’27 is a columnist for the Bowdoin Orient.