After an excellent week of preliminary round action, the 2016 Rock And Roll Rumble field has been narrowed from 24 to 8. We already knew the six nightly winners (read up on our full #Rumble2016 coverage if you’re not up to speed), but Sunday night on Anngelle Wood’s Boston Emissions radio show on WZLX, the two wild card entries were announced — and they are Eric Salt & The Electric City, and The Devil’s Twins.
The wild cards are chosen based on the highest score from non-winning bands, one from Nights 1 to 3, and a second from Nights 4 to 6. The wild cards are then swapped and slotted in the semis-finals so each band does not face off against another group it lost to in the preliminary round. The wild cards then kick off each semi-final evening.
So with that, here’s how the semi-finals shape up:
Rock & Roll Rumble Semi-Final Night 1, Friday April 15 at Once Ballroom:
9 p.m.: Eric Salt & The Electric City (wild card)
9:45 p.m.: usLights (Night 6 winner)
10:30 p.m.: Abbie Barrett (Night 4 winner)
11:45 p.m.: Worshipper (Night 5 winner)
Wild Card Note: Guitarist Mike Oram will be performing double duty, playing with both Eric Salt and Abbie Barrett. Vegas likes his odds to advance, but Worshipper and usLights might have something to say about it.
What We Wrote Before: When Analog Heart was announced as the Night 2 winner, it came after a very long deliberation from the judges. We assumed maybe it was because the verdict came down to a close race between Analog Heart and Eric Salt, and based off the wild card news, we were right.
From Vanyaland’s Night 2 Recap: “Closing the night were the jangly guitar-pop of Eric Salt & The Electric City, who have one of the more bizarre curveball singles in recent years with “Excellent”. The majority of their songs were slickly polished pop that touched on several decades of influences, and the veteran band holding it down behind Sir Salt didn’t miss a note. Towards the end of the night, with midnight approaching, the crew brought friends up on stage for one big sing-along and dance-off, and you get the sense that the judges’ debate between Salt and Analog Heart was responsible for the delay in the winner being announced. But that’s just our own guess.”
And now with sound and moving images: Eric Salt & Electric City close out Night 2 @rocknrollrumble @ONCEsomerville pic.twitter.com/WlNCQyjEp6
— Vanyaland (@Vanyaland617) April 5, 2016
Rock & Roll Rumble Semi-Final Night 2, Saturday April 16 at Once Ballroom:
9 p.m.: The Devil’s Twins (wild card)
9:45 p.m.: Analog Heart (Night 2 winner)
10:30 p.m.: Salem Wolves (Night 3 winner)
11:45 p.m.: Weakened Friends (Night 1 winner)
Wild Card Note: There’s a friendly North Shore rivalry blossoming between the Salem Wolves (Salem) and the Devil’s Twins (Revere). Choose a side, khed.
What We Wrote Before: After a rousing performance Saturday night, we were surprised The Devil’s Twins didn’t take the evening — but had a feeling we had yet to hear the last from them.
From Vanyaland’s Night 6 Recap: “We’ll be honest: we thought the Devil’s Twins had this one locked up (nevermind they were playing on Night 666), especially when the crowd started chanting their name once they were finished laying waste to the Once stage. The trio amped it up to three within seconds of starting up, and took the room on a rollercoaster ride of bluesy biker rock and noir-punk. They played to the “fullest” floor in front of the stage, and seemed to command the room. Drummer Ryan Manning was a motherfucking force and sibling duo Nikki Coogan (vocals and tambourine) and Jeremiah Louf (vocals and guitar) showed off their lifelong chemistry. We don’t know this for sure, and, we stress, we are only speculating here, but maybe, maybe… maybe the Devil’s Twins and the Knock Ups cancelled each other out on the judges’ scorecards, because they were the two groups with the most in common and we thought after it was all finished that one of them would win. We don’t know.”
The @rocknrollrumble gets rowdy with @TheDevilsTwins #rumble2016 pic.twitter.com/xAlm2Aaox1
— Vanyaland (@Vanyaland617) April 10, 2016