Session Solar's Christie McCarthy belts out her solar anthem "Rise and Shine" backed by the band Wave Array.
The second annual Solar Battle of the Bands, produced by Session Solar and Quick Mount PV, was held July 11 in San Francisco and attended by a capacity crowd of 1200 enthusiastic members of the solar industry. The after-hours event coincided with the annual Intersolar North America exhibition and conference at the Moscone Center.
Building on the success of the first Battle held in July 2011, the 2012 competition – dubbed Solar Battle of the Bands: Round 2 – drew twice as many attendees as the inaugural event. The exuberant crowd at The Mezzanine rocked till 1:00 am to five competing bands showcasing an impressive collection of musicians, all comprised entirely of employees of their respective companies: Zep Solar, SolarCity, SMA, Sungevity, and Tioga Energy.
When the votes were cast, Zep Solar’s band – Zep, the Band – was crowned the winner of the contest. The group closed out their set with a rousing performance of the B-52's “Rock Lobster” led by the spirited vocals and dance moves of Daniel East. Joining East in Zep, the Band were Jack West, 8-string guitar & vocals; Mike Miskovsky, guitar, bass & vocals; Daniel Flanigan, guitar, bass & vocals; Marty Kramer, keyboards & sax; David Therien, drums; and the Zepettes backup vocals trio of Christina Manansala, Sharon Litzky and Liz Mead.
Featuring a virtuoso performance by lead singer Colleen George, Sungevity’s band The Killa Watts took second place in the close competition. George was backed by Wyatt Roy, tenor sax; Misha Balmer, alto sax; Stephanie Smith, flute; Noah Ginsburg, keyboards; Joss Jaffe, guitar; Jeff Cleland, bass; Andrew Adelman, drums; and background vocalists Erinne Davis and Aurora Meerjans.
The evening was kicked off with Session Solar's Christie McCarthy, backed by San Francisco band Wave Array, performing the solar anthem “Rise and Shine” written by McCarthy in 2011. To cap off the entertainment while the votes were being cast and counted, house band Wave Array treated the crowd to original compositions. Wave Array members include Quick Mount PV employees Nich Pak, guitar, and Johan Alfsen, bass. Alfsen, who conceived the idea for Solar Battle of the Bands, also acted as the MC for the night.
The event featured a fundraising raffle by NorCal Solar and a photo booth sponsored by Intersolar. Solar Battle of the Bands was made possible by terawatt sponsors SCHOTT Solar and SMA; gigawatt sponsor Creotecc Solar Mounting Systems; megawatt sponsors Antenna, Burndy, and AET; kilowatt sponsors NABCEP
and SunEarth, and media sponsors SolarPro and Home Power.
Plans are already underway for Solar Battle of the Bands: Round 3 next July.
About Solar Battle of the Bands
Solar Battle of the Bands is a unique networking event that brings the solar industry together through a friendly competition of musicians. The annual event boasts a lineup of bands composed of musicians working in the solar industry from a variety of manufacturers, distributors and suppliers across the country.
www.solarbattleofthebands.com
About Session Solar
Founded in the U.S. in 2007, Session Solar is a wholesale distributor and project development partner for solar installers, businesses and municipalities. Session Solar is a subsidiary of Wurth Solar, a global solar distributor and integrator since 1985.
www.sessionsolar.com
About Quick Mount PV
Quick Mount PV manufactures building-code-compliant, waterproof mounts used to secure solar electric and solar hot water systems to rooftops. Founded in 2006, Quick Mount PV has grown rapidly to become the industry’s leading seller of solar roof mounts. Products are Made in the USA.
www.quickmountpv.com
7-minute Highlights Video