Among the 20 bands that performed during Saturday’s auditions, the jury selected not five—as had been announced earlier—but six for the grand final. Orange Juice, Niebo, Bron Cube, Alter, DeLaCore and The Shame performed for the audience once again. Each band performed very well, and identifying the one that unquestionably deserved the prize proved to be a major problem.
When two fight... two win
The solution was to split the main prize between two bands that, in the jury’s opinion, were equal. Orange Juice from Stalowa Wola received PLN 2,000, while a recording session at Jacek Krzaklewski’s BLUESAW studio—an addition to the cash prize—went to the audience favorite, the Wałbrzych-based band Niebo.
In addition to prizes for the bands, the jury also awarded prizes to the best musicians and gave the “for an unconventional show” distinction to Her from Chorzów. Konrad Piekarski of No Profit was named the Review’s Vocalist, while Kuba of Snow was named the Review’s Guitarist. Tomasz Worczyk of Alter was also awarded the title of Review’s Bassist, and Paweł Fiuto, also from that band, was named Review’s Drummer. The honored musicians received PLN 500 each.
Gothic music to close the event
This year’s Rock Blok w BOK edition concluded with a concert by Closterkeller, considered by many to be the best and most important Polish band performing gothic music. Critics say that Closterkeller was the pioneer of this genre in Poland.
Although the band’s repertoire differs greatly from the standards of popular music and is difficult and dark both lyrically and musically, Closterkeller has enjoyed fans’ affection and star status for more than a decade. Much of this is thanks to Anja Orthodox, the vocalist and lyricist, one of the more interesting personalities on the Polish music scene. During this year’s Rock Blok w BOK edition, Anja appeared not only as a vocalist but also sat on the jury.