Spring has sprung \u2014 and in this neck of the Midwest, it\u2019s the season for picnics in the Nichols Arboretum, debilitating allergies and a slew of legendary concerts hosted by MUSIC Matters<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Usually hosted at The Blind Pig, the yearly Battle of the Bands is a campus mainstay and a stand-up riot. The Michigan Daily has covered it<\/a> a number<\/a> of times<\/a>. This year, though, the music-biz collective broke form by hosting the Battle in a quieter, more intimate venue: The Ark.<\/p>\n With the new venue, MUSIC Matters adjusted their rivaling bands to match. This Battle of the Bands rounded up their plucky indie fare from across Michigan, from Ann Arbor to Kalamazoo. The bill included the guitar-brandishing duo Payton&Annabelle<\/a>, Japanese math rockers pluot<\/a> and two booze-themed jazz-fusion acts, ON TAP<\/a> and Tell Me When<\/a>.<\/p>\n Far from the grungy slackers of yesteryear, the four bands were all frighteningly punctual: By the time The Daily arrived at 8:01 p.m., the opening notes of Payton&Annabelle\u2019s performance were already wafting down The Ark\u2019s steps.<\/p>\n Formed in 2021, the Payton&Annabelle project sprung from the eponymous duo of vocalists before becoming a full-fledged band. Despite their demurring that \u201cit\u2019s our first time playing with the full band,\u201d their inexperience didn\u2019t show through at all. With Lukas Price\u2019s close-guarded drum work and Ben Gordon\u2019s delicate finger-picking, the whole band seemed to stand at pious attention to its two central voices.<\/p>\n Together, Payton&Annabelle was a match set of sweet singers inflected with country-style twang. On their cover of Sixpence None the Richer\u2019s \u201cKiss Me,\u201d the two never break from a delicate parallel harmony. It\u2019s a unity so binding, so central to their sound, that they don\u2019t leave space between their names.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a different venue, the crowd would\u2019ve gone wild \u2014 if there had been<\/em> a crowd to speak of. But The Ark asks for a seated audience, and the norms of the new setting increased the allure of the performance all the more. It gave Payton&Annabelle more latent energy to play with, tease, draw out. By their set\u2019s last song, a cover of No Doubt\u2019s eternally spunky \u201cJust A Girl,\u201d the audience could barely contain their foot-tapping, head-bopping energy to their chairs. When Payton&Annabelle said goodnight, the whims of our bodies\u2019 memory lingered after them like the smell of thunder.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n After a clockwork-efficient setup and takedown, pluot struck the opening chords of their set without another word. On the first songs of the night, a pair of unreleased pluot originals, drummer Rajer Hsieh\u2019s style was wild without ever missing a ghost note<\/a>; by the time the chorus kicked in, he had the room buzzing with the thunder-crack of stick on drum. On the released EP, you might be fooled by Echo Bennett\u2019s soft, ethereal vocal takes; live onstage, she instead belted, showing off her frightening chops.\u00a0<\/p>\n When they finally stopped and introduced themselves, Takahito Mori\u2019s reputation clearly preceded him; just his name received a round of applause unto itself. After introducing the band \u2014 the \u201ccool name club,\u201d as he called them \u2014 they covered \u201cTokyo Neon\u201d by Mili, taking the show to rapturous highs. The math rock genre is known for its uneven, unruly time signatures, but on pluot\u2019s arrangements, the beat never feels off; it just cascades down. Shudane Hendricks\u2019 basslines filled The Ark like the sound of a river. Only halfway through the set did I notice Hendricks\u2019 bass included a stinky accoutrement: a sock tied around the instrument\u2019s neck. He later explained that it helped him mute his pesky fifth string, letting him climb through his blistering riffs with more agility.<\/p>\n Following a song off their EP, \u201cApocalypse,\u201d the set concluded to thundering applause. For all the brashness of their performance, the band took that endorsement humbly as they made way for the Battle of the Bands\u2019 back half.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Third to take the stage, ON TAP\u2019s arrival was almost ominous. With a full set of brass and keyboards and guitar pedals, they\u2019re a bunch of maximalists in true Ann Arbor-band fashion. Their cover of \u201cI Put A Spell On You\u201d <\/strong>enchanted The Ark crowd at its greatest size. As a frontman, Kait Bimer was more like a viper \u2014 every \u201cyou\u2019re mine!\u201d struck the dark offstage. Drawing on their strong sense of dynamics, the pop-inflected original song \u201cAnticipation\u201d took full advantage of ON TAP\u2019s lush brass section. In ON TAP, everything from Robert Greene\u2019s keyboard to Christian Sese\u2019s guitar has its place \u2014 and their sound together was full and rich, like a well-seasoned meal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Their night ended on a monumental cover of \u201cSuperstition\u201d by Stevie Wonder \u2014 one that echoed across Ann Arbor when VUP covered it the next day at a co-op party. On \u201cSuperstition,\u201d they pulled out all the stops: a trombone solo, an organ-like keyboard section, a powerfully squelchy wah pedal. When the show was over, ON TAP made themselves a memorable presence \u2014 and gave their huge crowd a feeling to take home.<\/p>\n In the green room, the members of Tell Me When were an amiable bunch \u2014 but when they played the final set of the night, they meant business. Frontman Delia Cassidy told us to please stand up<\/em> \u2014 and we were grateful.<\/p>\n Abandoning their seats, the crowd\u2019s energy became swaying and palpable. Tell Me When were obviously natural rockers, and even when they turned down their distortion and sang the hits, the band was still able to bring down the house. Guitarist Ryan Devine told The Daily that he admired the other bands\u2019 technical prowess \u2014 but he has the benefit of raw power and a creative use of pedals. As the set wore on, everyone was standing, bobbing, waiting for the cue to go wild. An inspired front row started moving chairs out of the way. Another row started dancing. Piece by piece, The Ark\u2019s concertgoers rebelled to form a guerrilla dance floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Out of all the night\u2019s singers, Cassidy was the most natural frontman. Towering in red boots and a flashy belt, she introduced Fiona Apple\u2019s \u201cCriminal\u201d by asking, \u201cHas anyone here been a bad, bad girl?\u201d When it was time to play their one original of the night, \u201cHypocritical,\u201d she intoned coyly that it was about dealing with a \u201cbad friend\u201d \u2014 and it was like letting the audience in on a close-guarded secret. The band\u2019s frustration was infectious as the song chugged along; over Devine\u2019s distorted riffs, Delia sang fast and loose, and her fury came hot and cheap. After arching higher and higher on their cover of Childish Gambino\u2019s \u201cRedbone,\u201d the band let its iron grip on the audience\u2019s throat go \u2014 and suddenly Tell Me When became an amiable bunch again, thanking the audience for their enthusiasm.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When MUSIC Matters\u2019 organizers asked us to vote, it was clear our hearts were still with that final performance. With the freeze-frame of the closing band in mind, the crowd made its choice: Tell Me When won the night, and ON TAP was the runner-up. The bands took home their checks; the rest of us left with ringing ears.<\/p>\n Daily Arts Writer Amina Cattaui can be reached at <\/em>aminacat@umich.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\nPayton&Annabelle
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![\"Payton](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0110.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")
pluot
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![\"Shudane](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0303-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")
![\"Echo](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0298-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")
ON TAP
<\/summary>\n![\"Kaitlyn](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0486-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")
Tell Me When<\/summary>\n
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![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0632-1.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")
![\"Mia](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0684-2.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")
The Winners<\/summary>\n
![\"Delia](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.michigandaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/jsn.ART_.BattleoftheBands.03.13.25.0709.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1\")