Well, I wanted to do a quick synopsis of each region
10,000 Lakes Region
Interesting to see the success of the new songs and Intension is a prime example, coasting past Superfly. I thought this was a solid matchup and am surprised it was such a cakewalk for Intension, but that speaks volumes about how impressed people are after only hearing it a handful of times. I did vote Superfly though. I\'m curious to see how Intension holds up against Tribal and whether it can pull another upset.
I was also glad to see Good Things give GBFBITS a run for its money and to have two old-schoolers stay close to each other for the duration in Garcian and Attraction before the latter pulled away.
I wouldn\'t say this bracket is shaping up to have the best bouts in the coming rounds, but the possibility of a Tribal-Puppetry duel in the regional semi is intriguing as is the matchup in the next round between GBFBITS vs. Merge (which was tad sloppy in a fairly close one with Phaddy Boom Baddy). And actually, Puppetry vs. Inner Glimpse is pretty decent with two songs on opposite ends of the musical spectrum.
Oh and to all the No Glove apologists: it only got the 16th seed because I couldn\'t give it the 254th seed. You won\'t have luck when the chorus sucks, you won\'t have luck when the chorus sucks.
Dancing Wu-Li Region
A lot of great things have already happened in this bracket and it\'s obvious that potential is there for more.
I figured Chase vs. Question Mark would be a classic and I guess I was right. Question Mark was leading by 8-10 votes in the middle of last week before Chase staged an all-time rally, squashing chatter that this was a matchup of "losers." The only loser is Question Mark, which never should have relinquished a lead to a song that was at one time vastly overplayed and is now sort of in the back of a middle shelf. But you\'d figure Chase is mince meat for Gladys, which might set up an outstanding regional semi between Hard Luck and the Pimp.
Lit gave a valiant effort in attempting to knock off Sleeping Beauty, but fell shy, setting up a great matchup between the latter and Taboo in the next round.
Honey Butter made a statement with its walkover versus Frankly Po Zest. It now gets an increased and almost impossible test versus Buquebus in the next round. But these new songs have to go up and maybe take their lumps against the big boys if they expect to earn classic status.
And speaking of Buquebus, if you\'re one of the few loons who voted for Food for Thought, I just want to say: CHEW ON THIS!!!
moe.down Region
I have to admit that I was slightly concerned about this one going in, but that just shows what the bracket-meister knows: it\'s turned out to be the best in the first round, hands-down.
Future Peek vs. Beef Barley came down to the home stretch. I did a lot of tossing and turning before voting Beef Barley last night and it lost by just one vote, the sign of a tremendous matchup. I just love two different songs from two different eras getting a similar number of votes. It\'s what the tourney be all about. Future Peek should engage in a close one with Doughboy, which got everything it could handle from Simpleton before distancing itself.
And you gotta love the first tie in tourney history with Drunk Monk vs. Surreal Radio. Semi-similar tunes, different eras, still tight. Great, great stuff and I\'d expect the ménage à tune with Escher’s to have pretty equal votes all the way around.
Over Exposure vs. Coma turned out to be an all-timer. I\'m not sure what\'s more impressive: that a new song beat a classic that goes back to the band\'s larva days or that a few-minute instrumental nearly knocked off a tune which offers bucketloads more from a compostional standpoint. Either way, Over Exposure vs. Scheme is a marquee second-round matchup. I just got a funny feeling about that one. I\'ll gladly expose my vote.
Wormtown Region
This bracket clearly has the best second-round matchups with Score vs. May Fly, See the Light vs. Psygn, and even Gravity vs. Late and the Great, which made a quality showing in downing Fairy.
I was glad to see Episode 1 and 3 stage a back-and-forth battle before Ep. 1 pulled away in the final days. Tough to go against the defending champ in the next round.
I will say that I thought Psygn vs. D5 would be closer and am disappointed and stunned that it was such a rout. But that simply illustrates the strength of the fans\' new favorite song that it could defeat a song which is also a favorite.
As far as D5\'s "low" seed goes, believe me, it\'s not because of my personal preference. I love the song. But when you\'re a 7 seed in 2005, lose in the first round, and the band significantly diminishes your spot in the rotation, you get dropped. Vera Street was in the same scenario: 7 down to 11 after a first-round loss last year. Consistency, consistency, consistency. There was some randomness in these brackets, but I also had a formula for a lot of the matchups. It worked for a lot of them and in this case it didn\'t. Well, it didn\'t work for D5. It worked fine for Psygn, which now either gets to see the light of the quarterfinals or the dark side of the bracket.
This whole experience has been shit tons of fun!
