On Friday, January 26, Xaverian’s annual Battle of the Bands was held, where bands of Xaverian’s top musicians competed against each other to win this year’s trophy (and bragging rights)!

This year, five bands performed for the audience, a small yet, impactful increase from last year’s competition. These bands were (listed in order of appearance):

This year was filled with talent, as bands performed familiar songs such as Sweet Child o’ Mine, The Boys are Back in Town, Fast Car, and many more. This year was a first for the Battle of the Bands, as it had its first-ever all-female band performance, Under the Wire. 

“Isabella and I had been wanting to pit an all-girl band together since the beginning of this year, but we got busy with school and thought that we wouldn’t be able to find enough people,” Margot, the lead singer of Under the Wire, said. “Literally, a week before the audition, we reached out to Leila, Hailey, & Gabi, and we started practicing every chance we had. We auditioned with Linger, and the rest is history!”

The Battle this year was, quite literally, brother versus brother, as the Romano twins competed in their own separate bands. If you were in attendance at the 2023 Battle of the Bands, you would remember that Michael Romano and Luca Friedman were a part of Racket, their dual worms (the dance move, of course) on stage being a heavy factor in the victory for Racket. This year, the two separated from the band and formed their own duet, Secret Service, the name nodding at Friedman’s Presidency. Joe Romano stepped up as the lead singer for Racket. In the middle of their performance, Luca stepped off stage to let Michael play an original song. 

Not only was it brother against brother, but it was also friend against friend—a civil war within Xaverian’s Rock Band. Seamus Sturges competed against Mike Keane and Joe Graffagnino. The three of them are members of the Xaverian Rock Band; however, when Seamus’ band Archimedes won, one could only imagine what the car ride home together was like. 

At the Battle, the winner was decided by the six judges whom Mr. Loposky invited. Each of the judges were members of bands that had won the Battle of the Bands in previous years. All but one were graduates of the class of 2018, with one being from the class of 2019. The judges were Matt Massoud ‘18, Rob Milano ‘18, Giovanni Linea ‘18, Michael Maisano ‘18, Drew Hansen ‘18, and Rafael Ruggiero ‘19. 

With the graduation of many seniors this year, there will be a whole new generation of underclassmen bands next year, and we’re excited to see the future of the Battle of the Bands.