Soul Quest Wins Adult Battle of the Bands

A robust, umbrella-toting crowd turned out Tuesday evening for Huntington Woods' inaugural Adult Battle of the Bands in  in defiance of a downpour.

Seven bands duked it out during the event, which was co-sponsored by and Oakland County Parks & Recreation, with Soul Quest taking home top honors. The spoils? Bragging rights and the headline gig during the city's July 31 Concert in the Park.

The first 15-minute set kicked off shortly after 6 p.m., but thunderstorms prompted a brief break after the second set. No matter though, the crowd just popped open their umbrellas, donned their rain jackets and waited it out.

"With the weather, it's a little bizarre," said resident John Potter, who also competed in the battle as bass player with The Detroit Boomer Band. "I have to compliment the audience for participating with the weather. But, that's Huntington Woods."

Potter said the bands arrived at 5 p.m. to get ready and bemoaned the fact that no one would come "and, lo and behold, everyone shows up."

"I just really compliment our community for pulling together and doing it," he said. "You can't do this without a great audience."

Potter tapped his experience putting on his kids' Battle of the Bands to help Huntington Woods Recreation Supervisor Colette Nutton figure out the event's logistics.

To enter, band members had to be 18 years or older and at least one member had to be from Huntington Woods. There were seven contenders:

• Runes: Julian Epstein, Mike LaBella, Matt McBrien, Austin Keith, Drew Bartosic
• Albert Young & Straight 8: Jamie Shultz, Albert Young, Rick Borland, Rick Shatter
• Janie & The Shifters: David Jeup, Joe Heaphy, Dave Ritter, Joanna Meyers
• HWAccapella: Huntington Woods pool staff
• Exhaust Tones: Dan Scanlan, Tom Murphy, John Cortez, Natalie Neff, Joe White, Sam Locricchio, Mike Dowd
• The Detroit Boomer Band: John Potter, Neil Goodman, Doug Russell, Frank Ellias
• Soul Quest: P. Aaron Jones, Paul Patronik, Joe Pellerito, Ron Martin, Mike Teodorescu, Ric Guajardo, Colleen Beaton, Pat Sivyer, Mary Urbanik

The Huntington Woods Men's Club also was on hand Tuesday night selling fireworks raffle tickets.

"It's always a rush at the end and they're selling well," fireworks raffle co-chairman Rob Hurley said. "We expect a big push tomorrow at the Concert in the Park (after the Fourth of July parade)."