Battle for KATTFest and the Accidental Drumstick Trick

Saturday night found me at the Diamond Ballroom for KATT’s Battle for KATTfest finals.

Matt with Tretura, playing drums at Battle for KATTFest

Matt’s band, Tretura, had earned a place among the finalists, which meant they had the opportunity to play on a much larger stage in front of a much larger crowd.

I have seen Tretura perform many, many, and I mean many times. But this time, they were different.

From the audience, they looked like they belonged on that stage. They did not look like five musicians who had been given a brief opportunity to play at the Diamond Ballroom. They looked like a band that was supposed to be there.

Tretura on stage at the finals for the Battle for KATTFest

The lights, the crowd and the size of the stage helped, but it was more than that. They looked polished. They looked comfortable. Most importantly, they and the crowd were having a musical conversation. People were watching, responding and moving with the music. Tretura did not simply play in front of a room full of people. They connected with them.

The band members were harder on the performance than I was. They came offstage feeling that they could have done better. Musicians apparently hear every imperfect note and remember every moment that did not happen exactly as planned. The rest of us are allowed to experience the entire performance.

I experienced a band that looked and sounded like it belonged in the finals.

There was one particularly impressive moment when Matt performed an unexpected drumstick trick.

Matt might describe it differently. He might claim that he unintentionally juggled the drumstick. That is an unnecessarily negative interpretation. He kept playing. That is what mattered.

Of course, making the finals did not mean the band stopped wanting to win. It also did not mean they were satisfied merely to be included. They wanted to give their best performance, and afterward they did not believe they had quite done that.

I understand their disappointment, but I also had a different view. I was standing in the crowd, watching people respond to them. I saw how they carried themselves onstage. I saw a band that had earned its place in the finals and looked entirely at home once it got there.

Tretura did not win Battle for KATTfest. Congratulations to Atrus, who did.

Tretura playing at the Battle for KATTFest on Saturday night.

They wanted to win. I wanted them to win. There is really no clever way to make losing the finals sound better than it is.

But the result did not change what I saw from the audience. I saw a band that belonged on that stage.

And, despite what Matt may claim, a pretty impressive drumstick trick.

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