LTDMT IV: Last Band Standing

Welcome to Last Band Standing, a new music tournament format we’ve rolled out to spring in the Spring. In a combination of NBA/NHL style championship tournaments and WWF wrestling champion methodology, we launched with

1) 8 artists/bands are coached by 8 independent LTDreamers
2) It’s a 3 round tournament, with each round being a Best of Seven (like the NBA Playoffs)
3) No artist or bands song can be featured more than once through the entire tournament.
4) Coaches alternate 2-3-2 for who goes first in choosing what song will compete in a match (since choosing second is a bit of an advantage)
5) As each round ends and this group advances, we will invite other coaches to start participating in an Undercard section, wherein the ultimate winner of the Undercard will have an opportunity to challenge the LBS champion.

Those are the basics. Confused? It’ll become clearer as the match goes on, but here’s an example. Let’s say Orce was coaching the Beastie Boys and Jacob was coaching Bob Dylan (all hypothetical) and they were playing each other in the first round. Scores might go like this:

Match 1: Intergalactic- 84, Blowin’ In The Wind-69 (BB 1, Dylan 0)
Match 2: Ch- Ch- Check It Out 30, Visions of Johanna-42 (BB 1, Dylan 1)
Match 3:  I Want You- 56, Sabotage 72 (BB 2, Dylan 1)
Match 4: Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright- 70, No Sleep Til Brooklyn 72 (BB 3, Dylan 1)
Match 5: Boots of Spanish Leather- 57, Slow Ride- 49 (BB 3, Dylan 2)
Match 6: Brass Monkey- 40, It Ain’t Me Babe- 62 (BB 3, Dylan 3)
Match 7:  Paul Revere- 70, Shelter From The Storm- 66 (BB 4, Dylan 3)

Beastie Boys win in 7 games.

So then Orce and the Beastie Boys would go onto the next round, and Jacob and Bob Dylan would be eliminated. BUT Orce can’t use any of the songs he used in his matches against Bob Dylan- it’s a one and done.

So as you can imagine, there is a fair amount of strategy involved for the coaches (when do I use my sure things, how many sleepers do I actually have as opposed to think I have because I’m a super fan, etc.)

Bands/artists competing in the first group of eight are Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Sam Cooke, Blondie, and Super Furry Animals.

See the results page for more information on how the road to the championship is progressing!

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