Tribute band rocks LIC library

It wasn’t just a quiet day of reading on Saturday, August 4 at the Long Island City Queens Library. The Battle of Los Angeles, a Rage Against the Machine tribute band, livened things up with a performance.
The tribute band is made up of singer Christian Alcantara of New Jersey, bassist Chris Buonocare of Flushing, drummer Brian Servat of New Hyde Park and guitarist Joshua Pacada of Jamaica. Last October, after an original band he had been in broke up, Buonocore decided he wanted to start a Rage Against the Machine tribute band.
The members of The Battle of Los Angeles found one another through previous music connections and through ads that Buonocore had placed on the internet. The group has been together for about eight months now.
“It actually is really cool to do this,” said Alcantara, adding that they are helping expose the music of Rage Against the Machine to new fans. “We try to do as great a tribute to them as possible.”
Rage Against the Machine is known for hits such as “Sleep Now in the Fire,” “Guerilla Radio” and “Bullet in the Head.”
Although all four members have full-time careers, being in the band has become a second job for them. They book performances on a regular basis, having done shows through the New York City area and in Long Island, Massachusetts, and upstate New York.
“It’s so much fun for us,” Buonocore said. He also said that it’s fun to be onstage and see how the audience gets into the music.
Right now The Battle of Los Angeles is focusing on perfecting the rudiments of being a tribute band. But, they did say that they would welcome the opportunity to do original music somewhere down the line.
The Battle of Los Angeles will perform again in the New York area on Monday, September 3 at 8 p.m. at The Memory Motel, located at 692 Montauk Highway in Montauk.
For more information on The Battle of Los Angeles and to see a complete list of upcoming shows, visit www.myspace.com/thebattleoflosangelesny.