Dominican community stormed the SDCA grounds last Friday night, November 25, as the Battle of the Bands (BOTB) 2022 returns and made its debut after a 2-year lockdown due to pandemic.

BOTB 2022 was participated by Senior high school (SHS) bands namely: Nagazaki of Grade 12 STEM Copernicus, and Grade 12 STEM Blaise Pascal. The Seniors of Grade 12 TVL John Whitney Sr. performed different Original Pilipino Music (OPM) covers and proved that the heart of Filipino music truly lies within every Filipino.

Each participating band was given 15 minutes to perform a covers and to impress the audience and judges. Nagazaki led the first gig and hyped the crowd with Kamikazee’s classic hit Halik, and Martyr Nyebera . This was followed by the serenade of The Seniors Band with their slow rock-themed track that started off with Zack Tabudlo’s awardwinning song called Nangangamba, succeeded by a touching cover performance of Calein’s Umaasa, and Come Inside of My Hearts of the loved band of this generation, IV of Spades.

Amidst the dazzling lights that circled around the stage, the audience jammed with “all-time favorite’’ pop songs, which was the event’s highlight. NAPI heightened the vibe further by performing the trending song “Jopay” of Mayonnaise a five-piece Filipino alternative rock band,, where the crowd gone wild followed by Ikaw Lang by Nobita, and Hanggang Kailan by Orange and Lemons.

NAPI was declared the overall winner for this year’s Dominican Rockpublic: Battle of the Bands and bagged Best Vocalist (Gian Franco Gonzaga). Meanwhile, Nagazaki was awarded 1st Runner Up, People’s Choice Award, Best Lead Guitarist (Rikk Yanong), and Best Drummer (Jose Mari Mamuri), then The Seniors won 2nd Runner Up and Best Bassist (Adrian Echepari).

The event lasted for three hours from 7 PM to 10 PM with in-between raffle draws, intermission numbers by Reds in Motion, the dance troupe of the basic education department, and the announcement of Quincine Filmmaker Winners.