This year’s annual West Co-chella saw the return of previous bands as well as showcasing new talent. Captain Crunch and The Funky Bunch, Subliminal Crisis, Society of Music, 2007, We R Us, Los Socios, and M.A.T were all bands that made the list this year. All of these bands had a passion for music that many audience members saw in their performances.
“I am more than proud of my performance, this show meant everything to me and I hope it meant something to my other bandmates,” said Luis Torres, Subliminal Crisis guitarist.
Many bands were eager to play at West Co-chella with some bands such as Los Socios and Subliminal Crisis practicing as early as last December. With auditions starting in late February, it was important for bands to start practicing early in order to be selected.
“We started a practice in December just so we could build our band chemistry,” said Isaac Vargas.
Even with an early start, many bands had challenges to overcome to meet the standard that they wanted to perform at and push themselves to their limits. During 2007’s performance, their vocalist had lost their voice due to over practicing beforehand.
“Me and my band had been practicing for a while and it might have been a little too much since our vocalist was practicing vocals a lot for one of our songs which led him to unfortunately losing his voice during the actual performance,” said Nathan Isaac.
However 2007 pushed on and continued to play despite not having a vocalist for the rest of their performance. West Co-chella was more than an event to perform, but a stage to show their dedication to their music.
“It would’ve been a waste of all the rehearsals we did and it would’ve let people down who came to watch us too. We ended up having fun performing either way and I don’t regret not walking off,” said Isaac.
Many of their bands had chosen their bandmates, not just off individual talent, but off their love for music such as Los Socios, a band made up of chorale students taught by PAA Director, Tyler Wigglesworth. Subliminal Crisis was a band formed by Torres last year, who had a main goal of out-performing themselves from last year.
“I choose my bandmates by seeing how much dedication they have to this music, without dedication, this would be nothing,’’ said Torres.
Artist M.A.T, Matthew Troncoso, captured the crowd by being the only solo artist as well as being the first to encourage the crowd to get off their seats and stand next to the stage. Releasing an album earlier this year, this was his chance to play his songs for a live audience. Society of Music performed for a second time this year at West Co-chella a after encouragement from previous guitarist Miles Galvan.
West Co-chella was more than a student event for these bands, but an event to show their dedication and talents not just to students, but to themselves.
