History Main / BattleOfTheBands

Compare DanceOff. In some cases characters may enter to win the attention of a LoveInterest, in which case this trope overlaps with ArtistsAreAttractive

* In ''Film/SchoolOfRock'', the one with Jack Black, the climax of the movie is a competition which is called, well... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Battle of the Bands]].
* In ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure]]'' they dream about being in the school's battle of the bands. In ''[[Film/BillAndTed Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey]]'' they end up at the battle, battling the [[EvilTwin Evil Robot Usses']] band.
* ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'': The film ends with a Battle of the Bands between the title characters and the Louisiana Gator Boys. Unusually for this trope, the title characters LOSE, but band leader Elwood Blues is on good terms with the Gator Boys' leader, Malvern Gasperone (portrayed by {{Blues}} legend B.B. King) after an earlier encounter with him, and so the two bands decide to team up and play one more song together to close out the film.

* The Creator/GraemeBase book ''The Worst Band in the Universe''.
* In ''[[http://www.amazon.com/Rock-Star-James-Lincoln-Collier/dp/0590072064 Rock Star]]'' the protagonist's band gets into a nationwide Battle of the Bands, but the protagonist himself is grounded from playing because he's failing math. When his replacement gets injured he does it anyway and the band wins, which leads to him running away from home to become a rock star. [[AnAesop It doesn't work out]].
* ''Literature/KingDork'': Tom & Sam's band enters the school [=BotB=] and [[StylisticSuck sucks on purpose]].

* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' had one of these in "That Thing You Don't". Drew's band, the Horndogs, went up against Satan's Penis, a band fronted by a rival from high school. Two other bands involved were the Underprivileged (played by Music/TheReverendHortonHeat) and the Unreliables (who [[MeaningfulName didn't show up]]).
* ''Series/CHiPs'' once had a battle of the bands between a number of punk rock bands, one of which resorted to some illegal moves in their effort to win. One review site for the show claimed this would have been acceptable punk behavior if it hadn't been to win a battle of the bands. This is an unusual application of the trope in that the show's regular characters weren't participants in the battle.
* The majority of season 1 of ''Series/SchoolOfRock'' revolves around one and the preparations for it.
* ''Series/SoAwkward'': In "The Band", Ollie, Rob, Jas and Sid enter Battle of the Bands along with the tuneless Mr Malone.

* The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvipPYFebWc "Roundtable Rival"]] by Music/LindseyStirling features a musical duel, OldWest-style, between Lindsey and her girls versus the Durango Black gang.

* There is a Wii game called ''VideoGame/BattleOfTheBands''.
* In the third episode of ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople'', ''Baddest of the Bands'', Strong Bad hosts and later even enters one of these. Unfortunately, once he enters, his bandmates are ''terrible'', and the other three acts far better, causing him to resort to sabotage in order to win.

* Season 2 of ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'' has a storyline revolving around the various teams gearing up for a "Battle of the Bands", each of them decking themselves out in band apparel and instruments. The villains decide to get in on this with their own band, only to realize too late that this was [[spoiler:a literal ''Battle'' of the Bands. Despite using instruments and dressing as musicians, the various teams compete not in music, but in combat. All of their instruments have hidden weapon capabilities. Except the villains, the only ones who showed up with ''actual musical instruments'', and get pounded as a result.]]

* The subplot of ''Webcomic/SoulSymphony'' revolves around John and his heavy metal friend Charlie forming a band to compete in their school's Battle of the Bands. Of course, Charlie just really wants to win to defeat his [[JerkAss bitter rival.]]
* The webcomic ''[[http://battlecreeknecomic.com/ Battle Creek, NE]]'' is all about a "less than talented no-name pop punk band" from Nebraska who wind up representing earth in an interplanetary Battle of the Bands.
* This is the central premise of ''Webcomic/BandVsBand''.
* During a crossover sequence between ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' and its [[SpinOff spin-off]] ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', "Zii and the Troublemakers", the band led by one of the three main characters from the former comic, gets into an informal but serious duel with "Pretty Boyz with Electric Toyz", who are led by Zii's old rival, Angel, who usually shows up in the latter comic. (Angel used to work with Zii, but the relationship broke down when Zii had sex with Jerzy, who was Angel's boyfriend, at least in Angel's eyes, at that time.) Angel looks set for victory, as the other two Troublemakers are fighting each other as usual, but then Angel makes the mistake of gloating over Zii in their earshot, and if there's one thing that can unite them, it's their loyalty to Zii...

* The 1935 Creator/{{Disney}} ''Silly Symphony'' "Music Land" involved a Saxophone from The Isle of Jazz having a StarCrossedLovers romance with a Violin from Symphony Land, which culminates in the two different styles having an all out musical artillery duel.

* ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'' has a skit revolving around the various teams gearing up for a "Battle of the Bands", each of them decking themselves out in band apparel and instruments. The villains decide to get in on this with their own band, only to realize too late that this was [[spoiler:a literal ''Battle'' of the Bands. Despite using instruments and dressing as musicians, the various teams compete not in music, but in combat. All of their instruments have hidden weapon capabilities. Except the villains, the only ones who showed up with ''actual musical instruments'', and get pounded as a result.]]

* ''[[Film/TheBluesBrothers Blues Brothers 2000]]'': The film ends with a Battle of the Bands between the title characters and the Louisiana Gator Boys. Unusually for this trope, the title characters LOSE, but band leader Elwood Blues is on good terms with the Gator Boys' leader, Malvern Gasperone (portrayed by {{Blues}} legend B.B. King) after an earlier encounter with him, and so the two bands decide to team up and play one more song together to close out the film.

* The ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' episode "Des Jeux et du [[HeavyMetal Métal]] !", about games inspired by music, has Fred and Seb in a musical fight against the group "Wet Angers" for the right of passage through Shiny City.

Compare DanceOff.

* The ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' episode "Des Jeux et du [[HeavyMetal Métal]]", about games inspired by music, has Fred and Seb in a musical fight against the group "Wet Angers" for the right of passage through Shiny City.

* The ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' episode "Games and [[HeavyMetal Metal]]", about games inspired by music, has Fred and Seb in a musical fight against the group "Wet Angers" for the right of passage through Shiny City.

[[folder:Podcast]]

* The entire plot of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' involves the Dazzlings turning a friendly school musical showcase into a competition; it is an example of both the proverbial (in the form of the overall battle), and the literal (with the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms using magic-enhanced musical attacks against each other in the finale). The Creator/{{Hasbro}} website includes a promotional game for the movie that's actually titled "[[http://www.hasbro.com/equestria-girls/en_US/play/details.cfm?R=F794D393-5056-9047-F5A0-45D2FDD64CC3:en_US Battle of the Bands]]", providing the page image. Also the very title of the Dazzlings' first song in the film is "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)":

* The webcomic ''Webcomic/ScaryGoRound'' has a whole chapter named "Battle Of The Bands".

* ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad'' issue 8 sees the girls forming a band called "Kissy Boots" to perform in their school's Battle of the Bands. [[HilarityEnsues Naturally]], it leads to The Ugly One getting attacked by her own floor tom during rehearsal, So and So getting crushed by a giant twenty-sided die, and What's Her Face's bass guitar turning into a shark (which eats her, and later Cheerleader).

* The 1935 Creator/{{Disney}} ''Silly Symphony'' "Music Land" involved a Saxophone from The Isle of Jazz having a RomeoAndJuliet romance with a Violin from Symphony Land, which culminates in the two different styles having an all out musical artillery duel.

* The entire plot of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' involves the Dazzlings turning a friendly school musical showcase into this; it is an example of both the proverbial (in the form of the overall battle), and the literal (with the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms using magic-enhanced attacks against each other in the finale). The Creator/{{Hasbro}} website includes a promotional game for the movie that's actually titled "[[http://www.hasbro.com/equestria-girls/en_US/play/details.cfm?R=F794D393-5056-9047-F5A0-45D2FDD64CC3:en_US Battle of the Bands]]", providing the page image. Also the very title of the Dazzlings' first song in the film is "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)":

* ''Anime/ShowByRock'' has one between the Protagonist band Plasmagica and a band of middle-schoolers called Criticrysta, which ended with the latter winning by the nose. Eventually they had a rematch in which Plasmagica wins, [[spoiler: [[YouHaveFailedMe much to Criticrysta's manager's rage]]]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad'' issue 8 sees the girls forming a band called "Kissy Boots" to perform in their school's Battle of the Bands. [[HilarityEnsues Naturally]], it leads to The Ugly One getting attacked by her own floor tom during rehearsal, So and So getting crushed by a giant twenty-sided die, and What's Her Face's bass guitar turning into a shark (which eats her, and later Cheerleader).
[[/folder]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Battle Of The Bands" had the titular duo enter said competition with Cat playing guitar and Dog playing the drums. However, due to Cat's insistence that they play really, really soft, they were nearly booed out of the competition, until the Greases showed up, having mistaken the competition for an actual battle, which results in CatDog finally winning the Battle of the Bands.