While many people complain St. George lacks entertainment for young adults, Jazzy’s Rock N Roll Grill is doing its part by holding its annual Rock N Roll Rumble.
While many people complain of St. George’s lack of adult entertainment, Jazzy’s Rock N Roll Grill is doing its part by holding its annual Rock N Roll Rumble.
Jazzy’s Rock N Roll Rumble is a four-week-long battle of the bands held every Saturday night. Bands from across the West will compete with their best performances at Jazzy’s in hopes to win the $1,000 grand prize.
Three different bands compete against each other every Saturday night, and the winner of each night gets a chance to compete in the finals after the first round is complete.
The Rock N Roll Rumble had two Dixie State University student-led bands competing at Jazzy’s during its first-round battle Jan. 25: Capa’s Contax and Pangea.
Student-led band Pangea has been together for two years, and opened the show Saturday night at Jazzy’s. Read this Dixie Sun News article for more information on Pangea’s background.
Capa’s Contax is led by two DSU students. Jeremiah Holt, a freshman communication major from St. George, is the lead vocalist and Taylor Hobbs, a freshman engineering major from St. George, is the drummer.
“I would say we have an Indie, experimental kind of sound,” Holt said. “But we are still playing around with it.”
Holt demonstrated his skill as a wordsmith on stage Saturday. He said he came up with the words on the spot for three of the band’s songs during the performance.
“It was only my second show I’ve ever done,” Holt said. “But the words come pretty easy for me.”
Hobbs showed off his skills on the drums and said he loved the energy of the crowd.
“The performance was awesome because of the energy,” Hobbs said. “Jazzy’s is awesome, and everyone got into it.”
Capa’s Contax closed the night with a set of songs that started a mosh pit and spewed tremendously high energy throughout the performance; the band even played a freestyle encore that both the fans and the judges cheered to.
“They had some great energy,” said Andy Levine, a freshman general education major from Salt Lake City. “Their show was so solid.”
Judges had high praises for the band after its performance.
One of the judges said Capa’s Contax was his favorite band of the three, but the other judges thought otherwise. Rustic Pumpkin and the Harmless Majesty ended up winning the first-round battle for the night.
“Nearly 20 seconds into the first song — and I was blown away,” said Jazzy’s judge Richard Curl of Capa’s performance.
Curl’s critique also compared Holt’s style and sound to the lead singer of the band Minus the Bear.
“I have no idea who you are, but you were amazing,” Curl said of Hobbs after the performance.
Capa’s Contax opened for Toy Bombs the night before at Jazzy’s and came prepared to rock hard for the competition.
“I mean there (are) always nerves going into a show,” Hobbs said. “But having played together once [and] having played at Jazzy’s [the night before] really helps you feel more comfortable with each other and more confident. And Toy Bombs just rocked, so that was sick.”
Listeners can find Capa’s Contax on Soundcloud or visit its Facebook page for more information. The band’s next performance will be at Jazzy’s for a benefit concert Feb. 13.
Jazzy’s Rock N Roll Rumble continues its competition each Saturday at 9 p.m. until Feb 8.
