Battle of the Bands Tickets

The music was awesome! The bands battled it out but Harry Hames came out on top. I hear they're coming back on Feb. 15 and we want to come back and get great seats. It was great to see a lot of young folks there, not just old "fogies"! Great music never dies. Well done!

We went as a group of about 7 people - all with different taste in music and different age groups. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Looking around you could see people almost dancing in their seats to the music. I love Glen Miller and Harry James but even for someone that wasn't familiar with their music it was great entertainment and I''m sure there were a lot of people that left this concert that are new lifelong fans.!! The banter between the bands was really fun and we had a lot of laughs. It was a great evening of entertainment!!

The Battle of the Bands -- James and Miller -- at the NAC was superb. As each of the three judges remarked, this is the best big band concert ever to play Ottawa and better than anything I've seen since the early 60's. Both bands were magnificent in terms of individual talent, aggregate sound, musical choices, and showmanship in general. Get these guys, especially the James band, back ASAP.

I was glad that I caught this event!!! Dispite the fact that some people might think that I`m too young to enjoy this type of music; I bobed my head, my feet and my fingers all night!!! Hearing these two famous orchetras was the greatest concert I`ve see in a long time!! The acoustics are amazing in the hall. Two things made my night even better: 1- I met this boy who was probably the youngest person in the room. He was 13; he was so exited to see the brass play. It was amazing to see a young person enjoying the almost lost art of an orchestra. 2- When they mentioned they would be back on Feb 15 2010!!!

I wanted to share the experience of attending the Glen Miller and V.James battle of the bands as it was a great performance shared by myself and my mother. I initially wasn't too excited about hearing this "old" music that my parents both enjoyed before my father passed away. My mom wanted to relive the days they shared and I was her chaperone to get there. I was amazingly surprized and sentimentally touched to share the memories of my fathers joy and spark when listening to these artists and watching them play. It was an exciting evening and I am sad to think that there might be a day where this type of music won't exist anymore if young performers don't pick it up. It is very likely that I will again attend an event like this and next time look forward to it from the moment we purchase the tickets.

thoroughly enjoyed. Would go again. Brought back a lot of good memories. All musicians were very good.

There we were, three generations. MY mom 78, who introduced me to the sounds of her youth. And me 50, who carried it forward to my daughters . One of them, my 18 year old loves this music so much, that her call tone is an Andrew Sister's tune. We loved the show. But if I were someone who actually reviews shows. I would have a lot to critique especially as I was at the grandios NAC. The stage presentation was horrible. Dirty floors and black boxes for the band members to sit on. LIghting doesn't fix these things. Good thing the excellent muxic by both bands did. As for having judges. This is wrong. As much as I might admire the inidividuals chosen. The judges in these situations, should always be the audience. At the end of the show the bands claimed they were the last of their kind. And we should buy tickets to the February 15th show to support them . What I would like to know is why these two bands were not asked to perform at the Jazz Fest. that is happening right now in this city. They are 1940's Jazz bands. I am pretty sure either of the bands would have out performed any of the bands presented no matter what stage they preformed on. And the same time introduced their music to a generation that seems to have missed a beat.

I was dissappointed to see so many empty seats in the NAC.. The spirit and enthusiasm of both bands was infectious and had even the grey haired set tapping their toes and clapping enthusiastically. NAC audiences appear to be somewhat staid and do not burst into applause at every familiar phrase, but like to listen to the music and then offer their applause. The interplay between both maestros was practiced, smooth and offered a pleasing counter point to the music. I understand that they my perform at the NAC again next year. I have it circled on my calendar right now. I did not see any pre concert advertising, only from your web site. The concert title was also misspelled as were the tickets. This may or may not have caused confusion.

The music was amazing. This was a treat for my Father's 85th birthday, he enjoyed it tremendously judging by the stories he told that were sparked by the music. I was, however, disappointed in the presentation of the event. The "battle" rules and regs were not explained so that the audience could understand; rather vague. The criteria that the judges used to evaluate the bands were not presented. The event was not well promoted judging by the crowd capacity. Suggestions: 1. Promote thru a radio station sponsorship. 2. Have a radio announcer/broadcaster as the emcee. The organiser seemed to wing his presentation; not well prepared. They spoke of a traditional "fight". It wasn't a fight, but rather a Battle of the Bands. 3. Show a rating scale at intermission, giving the audience an idea how they stand. 4. Have rating cards for the audience to participate, and follow the band's progress. 5. Promotion by the internet for this particular age group is not sufficient. How many seniors are active on the web?? 6. The City of Ottawa hosts Big Band dances in the summer; & several night clubs host such weekly events as well. Were there tickets donated at these events to promote the "Battle"? The Ottawa-Gatineau Musicians Assocaition could also have been involved. Opportunities missed! 7. Tie in this event next year with the Jazz Festival; share the resources. 8. Have the emcee step in every now and then to explain the criteria of evaluation. They only spoke at the beginning and the end of the evening. This is the first year for this event, several kinks need to be addressed to surpass expectations next year. Don't give up, fix it; make it right!

From start to finish this concert was fantastic. Both bands were as good as the originals, sometimes better. I could not fault anything in general and I came away pumped up for the next one. If I were to criticize a bit, many of the solos and some of the arrangements were too modern to fit into the 40's timeframe.