The CBABC Eighth Annual Battle of the Bar Bands took place before a sold out crowd at the Commodore Ballroom on Friday, June 12, 2009. The competition was particularly fierce this year as all eight of the participating bands came well-rehearsed and nursing apparent grudges against the other bands. This year's stable of bands consisted of Blind Elmo (winners of the 2009 Victoria Battle of the Bar Bands); The Suits; Suspended Sentence; The Retainers; The Noted Uppers; QC and the Moonshine Band; Mr Fancy Education; and No Reply.
All the bands put on incredible shows and the event judges, The Honourable Chief Justice Lance Finch, Court of Appeal of British Columbia; The Honourable Mr Justice Jon Sigurdson, Supreme Court of British Columbia; Pat Haberl of Owen Bird (front man of last year's first place winners, The Disclaimers) and CBC Radio 3's Lisa Christiansen had a real challenge to determine who amongst the bands would receive the coveted ZSA Cup for the best bar band.
Ultimately the panel of judges determined that first place was to be shared between The Noted Uppers, fronted by the always entertaining David Hay and backed by a crack band consisting of Dan Burnett, Chiko Misomali, Meldon Ellis, Mark Killas, Terry Laliberte, QC, Jonathan Monk, The Honourable Judge David St Pierre, Michael Hurst and Jeevyn Dhaliwal, QC and the Moonshine Band led by the never-a-wallflower Howard Mickelson, QC and aided and abetted by Mark Slay, Ian Jones, Roger Holland, John Thistle and Missy Kaniuk, and 2007 winners Mr Fancy Education, featuring bassist/vocalist and bon vivant Michael Bain with Judge Tom Woods, Brian Wallace, QC, Doran Chandler, Patrick Aldous, Kevin Coles and Janele Woodley backing. Second place went to fresh-faced newcomers Suspended Sentence, and perennial surf-punk heartthrobs No Reply took the third place honours.
The biggest winner of the evening was the CBA (BC) Benevolent Society. This year's event raised approximately $65,000 for the Society.