Battle of the Bands (The Naked Brothers Band)
| "Battle of the Bands" | |
|---|---|
| The Naked Brothers Band episodes | |
| Episode nos. | Season 1 Episodes 11 & 12 |
| Directed by | Polly Draper |
| Written by | Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi |
| Produced by | Polly Draper |
| Featured music | Nat Wolff |
| Cinematography by | Ken H. Keller |
| Editing by | Craig Cobb |
| Production code | 110 & 111 / 999 |
| Original air date | October 6, 2007 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Battle of the Bands" is the eleventh and twelfth episodes of the first season of the musical comedy television series The Naked Brothers Band on Nickelodeon. It was first released direct-to-DVD on September 4, 2007 and later aired as a television movie special on the network on October 6, 2007 to 3.8 million viewers, which was among the highest rated for the week for children in the 6-11 and 9-14 age groups.
The TV movie episode follows the series' format of a rock-mockumentary. Battle of the Bands was written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi and directed by Polly Draper, who is also the showrunner and mother to the show's stars Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff, the lead singer-songwriter and drummer, respectively. Keli Price guest stars as Bobby Love, a manipulative con artist and the leader of the punk rock group The LA Surfers.
Plot[edit]
The Naked Brothers Band and another band, The LA Surfers compete in a “Battle of the Bands” charity event benefiting Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free instruments and lessons to children in low-income cities.
Rosalina (Allie DiMeco) starts to develop feelings for The LA Surfers' lead singer, Bobby Love (Keli Price). Nat and Alex Wolff, aged 11 and 8, respectively, first learn of his false intentions while in the bathroom, as Nat is trying to wash out the orange hair dye that he put on as part of his latte-drinking bad boy image that he attempted to pull off to impress Rosalina. Nat did this after seeing a video online of Bobby riding a motorcycle earlier that day.
Nat then says he will try to get along with Bobby, but as he enters the bathroom, Nat and Alex hide in a stall. Much to the siblings' dismay, it turns out that Bobby is a con artist and is just hitting on Rosalina to deceive The Naked Brothers Band (he speaks in a faux British accent, stamps his signatures, does not actually write his own songs, and his birth name is Robert).
Bobby even misleads TV reporter Matt Pinfield into thinking that Nat does not write his own songs, which Pinfield announces on the news.
At the pre-concert for Little Kids Rock, Nat asks Bobby to confess about his lies, and he does not. Instead, Bobby continues to hit on Rosalina and call Nat "Nate", which angers him. Alex confronts Bobby and steps on his foot, causing a physical fight. During the dispute, Nat declares that the benefit concert is now a battle of the bands, and whoever loses has to give all of their profits from their next CD to the charity.
Cooper Pillot, the band manager for The Naked Brothers Band, schedules a meeting with Ms. Patty Scoggins (Emily Richardson), the girl representative of Little Kids Rock, to formally apologize for the altercation by offering them a “huge band in Old Europe” called “The Honey Bunnies"—who are actually Mr. Wolff and his girlfriend Betty singing, as well as playing the accordion and ukulele, respectively—to be the opening act for the event, which she approves. During Mr. Wolff and Betty's band rehearsal on stage, however, Cooper allows Ms. Scoggins to borrow an extra pair of his ear plugs.
Bobby and his band later try to come up with new songs for the concert. Since Bobby does not write his own songs, this is rather challenging. He comes up with mediocre songs called “My Feet Are So Nice” and “I Love My Hair”. His bandmate's girlfriend, Rita, explains to him how silly the songs are, and he tells her that it is not her decision as she is "not even in the band."
Nat still fails to get Rosalina to believe the truth about Bobby, and while rehearsing the song "L.A." that Nat wrote for the event, Nat and the other bandmates keep ridiculing Bobby by referring to him as "a big fat phony liar," which leads to her quitting the band.
Rosalina finds Bobby to disclose what her former band members think of him. Bobby tries to further deceive her with words of encouragement, such as saying, "Have you ever noticed that the word 'lousy' is in the word 'jealousy'? That's because jealousy makes you feel lousy," but Rosalina reminds him that he already told her that the other day. When she seeks to clarify with Bobby which part of England he is from, he briefly hesitates, as he is not actually from Britain. Bobby then bluffs and responds, “Hogwarts." Rosalina asks, "As in 'Harry Potter Hogwarts'?"
Bobby quickly changes the conversation by asking Rosalina if she is holding the music from The Naked Brothers Band. Rosalina reasons that she "won't be needing it since she quit the band," so Bobby tosses it in the trash. He then attempts to kiss her, but she refuses, stating that she is "confused" and walks away. After Rosalina leaves, Bobby pilfers her music sheet.
Backstage at the concert, Bobby begins a hostile discussion with Nat by expressing his sorrow that Rosalina departed from the band, though alleging "she's a good kisser." Nat looses his temper and tackles Bobby to the floor. Nat is initially losing the brawl until Alex suddenly appears and scares Bobby away with a balloon that a young girl gave to him.
The Honey Bunnies open the show, but the audience strongly dislikes them. Nevertheless, a European producer backstage approach Mr. Wolff and Betty telling them that he was actually impressed by their performance. Soon after, The LA Surfers play Nat's song "L.A.", which distresses Rosalina in the audience, and she runs over to The Naked Brothers Band explaining how Bobby stole the song. Rosalina hugs Nat while sobbing in his arms, as he forgives her apology.
Noticing a net of balloons above the stage, Rosalina wishes that "all of the balloons were made of cement and they would fall on Bobby Love's big, fat, phony head." Then, Alex reminds Nat that he is afraid of balloons. Rosalina pulls the rope, releasing the balloons. Balloons descend upon Bobby and his band members, which causes him (in a non-British accent) to panic in fear for his mother and jumping on his bandmate, Pork, shouting: "I'm not playing games! They're touching my face!"
In the midst of Bobby's breakdown, Cooper and Patty show footage of The Naked Brothers Band recording the music video for the song “L.A.” on the projector. Seeing this, Matt Pinfield, who previously supported The LA Surfers, gives an explanation of what just happened: The LA Surfers stole the song from The Naked Brothers Band, and Bobby Love is really "balloon fearing surfer dude Robert Love from California. I repeat, Bobby Love is afraid of balloons, and is from San Diego" before chanting with the audience that "Bobby is a thief!"
The LA Surfers are booed off of the stage and gather at the dressing room. Bobby shares his resentment towards having to donate all the money from their next CD to, what he calls, the "stupid" charity. Nonetheless, Rita points out that due to the band's performance that evening, they most likely will not be releasing another album. Bobby hides his face in his hands, coming to terms with his defeat.
Meanwhile backstage, Nat shows Rosalina how to play the chords for his new song "Girl Of My Dreams".
Nat and his band appear on stage. Nat dedicates the new song to Rosalina, and he recalls writing it on the piano when he felt heartbroken, but acknowledged how he can now sing it happily. The Naked Brothers Band perform "Girl Of My Dreams" and win the battle of the bands.
Cast[edit]
| Actor | Character | Character overview |
|---|---|---|
| Nat Wolff | self | Aged 11; The lead singer/songwriter and keyboardist for The Naked Brothers Band. |
| Alex Wolff | self | Aged 8; Brother of Nat Wolff and The Naked Brothers Band's lead drummer. |
| David Levi | self | Aged 11; Keyboardist for The Naked Brothers Band. |
| Thomas Batuello | self | Aged 11; Cellist for The Naked Brothers Band |
| Cooper Pillot | self | Aged 11; Band manager for The Naked Brothers Band, who wears a suit and large sunglasses. |
| Allie DiMeco | Rosalina | Aged 13; Bassist for The Naked Brothers Band. |
| Qaasim Middleton | self | Aged 10; Guitarist for The Naked Brothers Band. |
| Michael Wolff | Dad/Mr. Wolff | Father of Nat and Alex. Accordionist and singer for The Hunny Bonnies. |
| Jesse Draper | Jesse Cook | Aged 20; The Naked Brothers Band's babysitter and tutor. |
| Catherine Curtin | Betty | Mr. Wolff's girl friend, Ukulele player and singer for The Honey Bunnies. |
| Matt Pinfield | self | Television news reporter |
| Keli Price | Bobby Love | Aged 15; Lead singer of the LA Surfers |
| Emily Richardson | Patty Scoggins | Representative for Little Kids Rock |
| Grant Monohon | Pork | Bassist for The LA Surfers |
| Lyle Mackston | Drummer | Drummer for The LA Surfers |
| Ty Daniel Smith | Guitarist | Guitarist for The LA Surfers |
| Karen DiConectto | Rita | Girlfriend of The LA Surfers' guitarist |
Reception[edit]
Common Sense Media awarded it a dim 2 stars, citing an “unrealistic plot”. It also recommends a showing age of 10+ because of some inappropriate content.[1]
It was the number-one show for the week of October 6 for children ages 6–14, with 3.8 million viewers.[citation needed]
