Mighty morphin’ Beerkats triumph in 2015 Youngbloods Bullshit Battle of the Ad Bands

The 2015 Youngbloods Bullshit Battle of the Ad Bands was held at The Game sports bar on Friday night. Long one of the industry’s best events, this year was no exception with ten bands putting on a monster night of entertainment. Beth Caniglia reports for Campaign Brief.

The Perth brand of Agency land is like no other. There’s a sense of camaraderie and purpose that few other industries I’ve come across possess. It’s a land of fun, frivolity and a lot of f$%king bullshit – and nowhere are all these facets displayed better than at the Bullshit Battle of the Ad Bands.

As a (relatively) recent addition to the industry, the 2015 BBotAB marked my first attendance at the now longstanding event. I brushed up on my history though – rekindled in 2008, it’s been running ever since and has only grown in size, with more bands, bigger crowds and more bullshit that anyone could ever have anticipated. The YoungBloods and the Communications Council put on an amazing spectacle this year at the Game Sports Bar (the old Deen, for those that were wandering around the place with a weird sense of dejavu and nostalgia).

The evening started with the lights on and a polite crowd, keen to hear the musicianship of their colleagues and competitors alike. The bullshit level went up to ‘bribery’ fairly early on, when Channel 9 began distributing branded caps and mini footballs into the crowd during their set. This bold move was noted by the judges at the halfway mark and signaled a clear raising of stakes for the bands to follow.

There were plenty of notable mentions across the night including the Brandits who schooled the crowd on the various ways one can ‘whip’; Le Longtail who matched their outfits to the exquisite accent of their lead singer; Southern Cross Austero’s Paper Clip Brothers, who started their performance with reference to a camel toe and The Crash who brought an oldschool vibe and had the whole crowd jumping to Jump by Kriss Kross. As the night wore on the lights went down, the music went up, glitter was thrown and crowds were (unsuccessfully) surfed.

For me the standout of the night was Marketforces ‘MurderFace’ – by far the tightest group of the night from a musical standpoint, the three piece sported villainous masks and smashed through their rocky mini-set.

And of course, I couldn’t go with a mention for the champions of the night, the unfaultable ‘Beerkats’- they even surprised veteran MC Martin when they snuck onto the stage in Poweranger Morph suits to play a hard rock version of the theme song to the cartoon their outfits paid tribute too.

It was a packed venue with an awesome vibe running throughout and it was a great showcase of why ad-land is such a great place to be. We all know the stress and the strife of the sometimes cut-throat industry that keeps us on our toes and at our desks late into the night, finishing a pitch, launching a website, finalizing a campaign. At some point it seeps into our blood. But despite all the pressure and the plentiful opportunities we have to treat each other like shit… we don’t. Because that’s not what we’re about. We’re about amazing creative and precision execution. In fact, we applaud each other for it. And we’re the friendliest bunch of crazies you’ll ever come across.

The battle was exactly as it’s called – a bit of bullshit and lot of fun. It was our industry celebrating how weird and wonderful we are with a few drinks, live music and lots of laughter.