Rocktology! – Top American Bands Tournament

I’ve got to admit that The Cars winning our top American bands tourney was kinda unexpected. They completely dominated the F4, backing over Van Halen’s feet and then getting CCR with the door. Cheers to The Cars’ social media community, which came out in force when it counted most to support their boys. That’s right, I said…

Each of the four regions in this 64-band bracket-style tournament had its share of excitement. Region Red provided the first dramatic moment when the ghost of Glenn Frey rose up and hit a buzzer-beater in the final minutes to deliver the Eagles from a 1st round upset at the hands of Foo Fighters. Hell proceeded to freeze over in round 2, as The Cars unexpectedly rolled Henley & crew. Red also saw our first tie-breaker, with the good folks from the 360° Facebook page overwhelmingly declaring the White Stripes victors over Steely Dan.

Even though they were the top seed in Region White, it was still surprising to see the Creedence Clearwater Revival cruise to the F4 and into the final game. Not a ton of upsets in White, but there were some fun matchups. Motley Crue gently nudged Smashing Pumpkins in the 1st round, and then it was a clash of SoCal cultures v Beach Boys.  White had some unintended symmetry as well with Beach Boys v Beach House and Black Keys v Black Flag.

Region Blue turned out to be the Pacific northwest region, with Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam all representing. Interestingly, The Doors took each of them down in succession on their way to the F4. The Doors were also involved in one of the highest participation matchups in their 1st round duel with Cheap Trick; both squads enjoyed a lot of support. Blue provided the biggest surprise of the tournament as Weezer upset the Dead in round 1.

Fresh off their 360° career feature, “Dave Halen: The Real VH,” Van Halen came from a 5-seed and dominated Region Purple. VH upset VU in the Sweet 16, as the Velvets had trouble with the hard stuff, barely edging Aerosmith in the previous round. But Purple’s most exciting action came in round 2 as Talking Heads stormed from way behind to stave off an upset at the hands of Guns n Roses.

We’d like to personally thank everyone who voted and retweeted, particularly Mr. Mark Wiley and those good-time Detroit rockers The Beggars. Thx for letting yourselves be heard!

For those picking us up late, a quick reminder on inclusion and seeding. There was a small nominating committee with the following rules:

-List in ranked order of 10 American bands from each decade (1960s – 2010s)
-4 at-large picks.
-No “and the” groups (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
-No primarily vocal groups (The Supremes, Temps)
-No artists that are really one person with rotating side contributors (Phosphorescent, Iron & Wine)
-Band’s 1st record release or decade of most influence considered (e.g. Soundgarden and Nirvana both debuted in the 80s but had their greatest impact in the 90s)
-Raw scores compiled to determine inclusion and seeding
-Bands not segregated by decade in brackets (top four with the lowest score received a 1 seed, next four received a 2 seed, etc)

Here’s how it played out…

Final Four

Region Red

Region White

Region Blue

Region Purple