Battle of Bands at the Willy

Jorge de Luna

The music bands' encounter at the Wilfrido Massieu Stadium served as the stage where young Polytechnic students expressed what could well be called a musical equation, blending ensembles, rhythms, timings, and silences to bring covers and original compositions to life. They infected the audience with alternative music during the celebration of the 87th anniversary of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN).

Thirteen bands, each with an equal number of musical proposals, gathered with a single purpose: celebration and expressing the talent of university students through genres like rock, metal, salsa, cumbia, ska, reggae, pop, jazz, classical, as well as the blend of alternative rock known as "rock mestizo."

At the foot of the Burros and Águilas Blancas' field, a professional stage, lights, monitors, speakers, audio equipment, and a sound console were set up. As an honorary witness, Radio IPN broadcasted a special transmission to electrify the afternoon with its radio waves.

From three in the afternoon, students started to gather in the stadium's stands while the nervous participants tuned their instruments over and over again. Among the rockers, there were some mishaps, as adrenaline and memorized chords led to forgetting cables to connect their instruments. In a sense of camaraderie among the bands, they helped each other out, offering reassurance to those who were about to perform.

Groups like Involves, composed of students from ESIME, ESIA Tecamachalco, and guests from the Faculty of Architecture of UNAM, began their set with the song "Yellow" by the British band Coldplay. Then came the Fili Opuntia group, which means "Son of the Nopal," featuring a quartet of twenty-somethings from ESIME Zacatenco and ESFM.

The quartet from ESIME, ESIA, and ESIQIE gave life to Bandderwaals, a band that opened with Shakira's song "Antología," which was sung along by the audience. They wrapped up their performance with their own composition and debut single:

No pasa nada, while Pico de Gallo played a mix of ska, rock, salsa, and cumbia to celebrate "rock mestizo" in front of the attendees.

Bands

• Recepción

• Discurso serio

• Azul Amanecer

• Involves

• Fili Opuntia

• Bandderwaals,

• Abdiel

• Pico de Gallo

• Ángel Mérida Salsa

• Kodiak

• Vacío

• Inter Estellar

• Levy

Gaceta Politécnica #1735. (July 15th,2023). IPN Imagen Institucional: Read the full magazine in Spanish here