A Place to Hide, made up of members Anna Hoffman, Billie Baumeister, Shane Reid, and Freddie Noonan, were the winners of the Battle of the Bands competition and will be performing at Trinity Ball (T-Ball).
The band spoke to Trinity News about their start, their success, and what they’re looking forward to about playing Trinity Ball.
The band’s formation was Trinity-based; Hoffman and Baumeister met through both studying music. Joined by Hoffman’s boyfriend Noonan, the group then met Reid through a Top Floor Music gig, where he recorded them playing. Top Floor Music, which has been running since 2017, is Trinity FM’s “answer to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts” and highlights Trinity based music groups.
The group highlighted that Top Floor Music has been a great opportunity this year to gain more exposure and they’ve noticed that this year there have been a lot more opportunities for society engagement.
Speaking on their experience participating in the first ever Battle of the Bands, a competition that took place last week in The Grand Social to decide what Trinity act would play at T-Ball, Baumeister commented that it was “really good, because people get to showcase the bands. And it also puts people on a lot of level playing field, because only the audience who are there get to judge.”
As opposed to other years, where there was only a vote held to decide what group would get to play, the Battle of the Bands competition had 6 groups play a 15 minute set showcasing their talents.
Hoffman spoke of the challenges of trying to present themselves in such a short time, considering their normal sets would be around 40 minutes in length. She said: “It was just a lot of sacrificing of all the songs, because we do all our own songs, so we all have closeness to certain ones.”
CJ Gale, the live music officer on the entertainment committee, commented that: “The night itself was a huge success- we had a really tight schedule fitting in 6 bands but everyone came prepared and ready to put on a great show. The crowd was amazing too. It was nearly full and the energy was great throughout.”
Hoffman also commented that, although she does not usually get nervous for gigs, the competition aspect of Battle of the Bands gave her some nerves, but that ultimately it was a fun sense of competition.
The winner of Battle of the Bands was decided by those present and announced on the night, with A Place to Hide winning by one vote. Baumeister called the experience a bit “disorientating,” but that it was a very good surprise to win because they did not think that they would win.
Gale commented that the closeness of the voting “just goes to show how incredibly talented each band was.”
She added, “With the night being so successful we hope that it can happen every year going forward for T-Ball. We know now what to improve on so that next year is even better.”
As for the actual night of T-Ball, the band members are excited. Both Baumeister and Reid are also members of Trinity Orchestra, so they will be playing twice at T-Ball. Baumeister commented that they will have to run between stages, which will be “stressful” but that they’re very happy to have to do it.
Trinity Ball will be the largest show they have ever played as a group, but that they are excited to feel the energy of the crowd. Reid said that even seeing the stage being set up in Front Square is preparing them for the excitement of the night.
Baumeister summed up their excitement and attitude towards the opportunity by highlighting how important it is that students are given the opportunity to showcase their talents. She highlighted that TradSoc, DUDJs and Trinity Orchestra will also be playing on the night and that it is really important that Trinity Ball be a chance to highlight student talent.
A Place to Hide will be playing the Botany Bay stage tonight from 9.50pm to 10.30pm.
