Pepsi Battle of the Bands Season 4 has been an absolute treat so far!
Last week, Episode 2 presented 12 bands that had been selected for the next round leaving the audience impatient and excited to know what happens next.
Episode 3 started with much more positive energy as Hina Altaf welcomed the tremendously talented DJ Ali Safina on stage to co-host the show with her.
Together, the two dynamic hosts explained the format of the upcoming battle to the audience and participants.
The selected 12 bands – E-Sharp, Seismic Tremors, Marjaan, Neon, The Starzone, Auj, Uraan, Aarish, Skehlaaj, Black Hour, Jhoot and Mousiqa – were divided into two groups.
Out of the total, 6 bands were to battle it out in this episode, while the rest would be seen competing in the next!
Then There Were 6!
To set the mood, and inspire the contestants before the Great War began, Strings performed on their hit track, ‘Chal Para’ from their latest album 30.
Offering a simple mantra to follow the heart in order to achieve your goal, the song was perfect to start the fight.
The battle format is perhaps the perfect embodiment of the platform vision that has seen Pepsi Battle of the Bands establish it self as the curator of original music in Pakistan; where bands have to perform an original song.
Battle 1 – Skehlaaj vs E-Sharp
The first face-off was between Skehlaaj and E-Sharp.
E-Sharp started the round with ‘Awaami Mulazim’, a song performed in their signature devil-may-care attitude combined with lyrics that were pretty thought-provoking.
Skehlaaj followed the performance with ‘Motion’, a track mixed with heavy riffs and vocals.
The judges gave their decision in favor of E-Sharp, discussing the creative and vocal limitations in Skehlaaj’s performance.
Battle 2- Neon vs Mousiqa
Neon took the lead and performed their original number, titled ‘Haddi Daal Do’. The song also happened to be the band’s first performance in front of a live audience.
Mousiqa followed the performance with ‘Dhudun Kya’, but it looked like both the bands somehow failed to impress the judges.
Pointing at the weak lyrics, Fawad Khan said he didn’t feel anything. While the judges appreciated the song structure of Mousiqa’s original, they ultimately made the decision in favor of Neon giving them a chance to showcase their true potential in the next round.
Battle 3- Star Zone vs Aarish
The final clash of the episode was between Star Zone and Aarish.
Star Zone performed on a soulful track titled ‘Taaron ki Roshni’ while Aarish followed with the beautiful ‘Awaaz’.
Picking a winner among the two was probably the toughest one-on-one battle so far. Aarish vs Star Zone left the judges wishing they could send both the bands into the next round.
However, they had to pick one and after a lot of consideration, the decision went in favor of Aarish.
E-Sharp was considered the best performer of the episode. Bilal Maqsood gave the band a brand new Ibanez guitar, signed by all judges.
In the end, the jury used their power to save one out of the three bands in the danger zone: Skehlaaj, Mousiqa, and The Starzone.
While Faisal Kapadia directed all the bands to stay focused, not lose hope and continue their journey, the episode came to an end with the jury making a collective decision to save The Starzone.
Watch the wild episode below:
Watch out for more exciting battles in the next episode of Pepsi Battle of the Bands season 4.
