Twin duo Mirror Image reflects excellence

Andrea and Juliet Wilhelmi, sophomores at St. Gregory College Preparatory School, beat five other bands and got a recording session as their prize.

Over the last five years, the Battle of the Bands has become a rite of passage for high school rockers in the Old Pueblo, a Super Bowl of sorts for Tucson's teenage musical talent.

If you win, you get a daylong recording session on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. If you lose, you still get to brag about playing to a packed house at one of Downtown's most celebrated concert venues.

Mason Betz exuded a mixed bag of confidence and nervous energy before the start of the battle.

It was the third and final time that his hard-rock quartet, Paul Revere, would be playing in the popular competition. The 18-year-old guitarist would settle for nothing less than first place.

"We've been practicing tons," Betz, a Flowing Wells High School senior, said while waiting for the rest of his band to arrive for the show. "The same set over and over again just to make sure it's clean."

An hour later, Betz was up on stage, thrashing his way through the song "I Get What I Want" as band mates Austin Keyes, Tony Perry and Tohbi Lundergan kept the pace. They gave it their all and put up some fierce competition as music fans filled the Rialto.

Of the 29 bands that entered this year, six made the final cut.

Among them were a pop-punk group called the Shaw, selected as the "Popular Choice" winner; the progressive-rock group known as the Thesis; and the overall winner, Mirror Image.

Starting with a reggae-infused set by last year's winner, Kool Shades, the bands laid down a series of 15-minute performances, one after another.

Marco Esparza, 15, watched intently in his "Stewart/Colbert 2008" shirt, rooting the hardest for the first competing act of the night, Jon and Jeff. The two guitarists are friends of a friend.

"I was going to come last year, but I got sick," said Esparza, a Basis Tucson student. "I heard Kool Shades was awesome. I wanted to come out and see."

Evangelina Vasquez, 15, came to cheer for her favorite band, the Thesis.

"They played for my quinceañera, and they are really hot," the City High School student said. This was the ninth-grader's second time attending the competition. "I like the way it starts out calm and then everyone gets all tensed up and hyper. The whole thing ends up being so much fun."

First place

Mirror Image

(Andrea and Juliet Wilhelmi)

Second place

Monterey

Also participating

The Shaw

Jon and Jeff

The Thesis

Paul Revere