By JR Breen
Contributing Writer
The Willman Band scraped out a close victory at this year's Stompers Battle of the Bands, an annual music contest held at Ole Stompers bar in Itaewon, Seoul.
The Willman Band, a four-member group specializing in Latin music, beat off competition from four rivals.
``They're all superb musicians. They were so together, so tight. They deserved to win,'' said Alan Green, co-owner of the venue.
In the final, The Willman Band ― which consists of a bassist, lead guitar and vocalist, a drummer and keyboard player ― narrowly defeated the punk trio Seoul City Suicides with the former getting the support of two out of three judges.
The Battle of the Bands, now in its second year, was the brainchild of Green, Summer Walker and Cain Barriskill. They came up with the idea since Ole Stompers, a music venue, was devoid of any major events.
``Stompers is such a known music venue in Itaewon that we decided we should do a battle of the bands,'' Green said.
The event consists of three knockout rounds leading up to the final. The bands were assessed on musicianship, originality, performance and crowd reaction.
``The level of quality was really good overall,'' said Green.
``The Willman Band and Seoul City Suicides were the top two of the night. (They) had everyone jumping up and down.''
The other contestants were The Tremors, Ska Sucks and ...Whatever That Means.