64 artists enter a bracket and every single loss deletes an entire catalog. That’s the game, and it sounds fun until you actually have to choose. We kick off our Ultimate Band Showdown by setting the rules, admitting our biases, and realizing our “criteria” is basically a mix of unskippable songs, nostalgia, and whether a band can carry your mood from cleaning day to late-night drives.
Before the bracket bloodbath, we share life updates, car trouble, tech glitches, and a weekend recap that turns into a love letter to the perfect night out: live music, an arcade packed with pinball machines, old-school cabinets, and the kind of venue that makes you want to stay for “one more game.” Then a stranger drops the word “debauchery” with full confidence, and we spend the rest of the night trying to process what just happened.
