Oman music bands set for the big battle

With seven bands competing on Friday, a tough competition is expected. 

Muscat: With just a day to go, Oman-based bands are ready and eager to compete in the Stereophonics “Battle of the Bands (BOTB)” event, organised by Alive Entertainment, where the winner will be given an opportunity to open for one of the biggest bands in the United Kingdom.

For musicians, this is an opportunity to shine in front of thousands of people by supporting a band, such as Stereophonics, but for the most part, it is a night meant to share music and enjoy the atmosphere.

“We are very much excited. Our music is very similar to Stereophonics’. We enjoy their music and we can relate to the way they play. So it is a good opportunity to hopefully support their concert,” said Neil Callang, ‘Coffee Soup’s’ representative.

For others, it is a dream come true. “We are a Welsh band as are Stereophonics, so we would love to be their support band,” said Joanna Vos, lead vocalist for ‘The Noisy Neighbours’.

Omani music scene

BOTB, which is set to take place on Friday, October 23 (in Wednesday’s edition, we had wrongly mentioned the date as September 23), at the Shangri La’s Barr Al Jissah Ballroom at 8pm, will provide a much needed platform for local musicians to share their music and enjoy the night unlike any other venue.

Omani music scene is not as active as it should be, but with the organisation of BOTB, there is still hope for it to become active for aspiring musicians and bands.

“I’m happy that we are going to have a night like this in Oman. The music scene in Oman is a bit low profile. There are a lot of musicians that are eager to play,” said Tarek Khorshid, a vocalist and guitarist of ‘T-Band’.

“Alive Entertainment is doing a great job and we should support the local music scene,” he added.

“We try to keep ourselves active because the music scene in Oman is not that active. But people would want to see a lot of battles, so BOTB will give the crowd something to support,” said Callang.

Explaining that there are constant changes in rules regarding live bands, Vos said, “This is more important than anything since live bands struggle here,” in Oman.

Expectations

With seven bands competing, including, the T-Band, The Noisy Neighbours, Coffee Soup, Marhsall’s Law, IRIS, B-Sharps and Wadi Dogs, a tough competition is at hand where some are confident of winning the competition, while others said they would rather enjoy the night.

“We expect it to be a tough competition, but we will enjoy the company and performances of the other bands. We will just have fun and enjoy the night,” said Callang.

Vos said, “If this (competition) was in the U.K., we wouldn’t have thought about competing, but in Oman, if you look around, we are a really good band. We work really hard and have fun doing what we do. But I hope and pray that we are good enough.”

Not concerned with winning or losing the competition, Khorshid said, “It doesn’t matter if you win or lose; at least you’re having fun playing the music.