Battle of the Bands

## Paired with

"The Math Book"

**"Battle of the Bands"** is the 19th episode in the first season of *Milo Murphy's Law*.

Milo, Melissa, Zack, and Mort join the Battle of the Bands competition so they can gain experience playing in front of an audience, and must learn to overcome their own conflicting concerns, especially when Zack encounters his old bandmates, which makes him extremely competitive.

## Plot

Milo, Melissa, Zack, and Mort enter a "Battle of the Bands" contest. Due to a misunderstanding, they are entered under the name Just Getting Started. As the rest of the band is setting up, Zack is astonished to learn that his old band, now named The Lumbermaxes, is also taking part in the event. Despite claiming otherwise, Zack begins to feel a sense of rivalry with his former band and then explains their history to his friends. Overcome with a desire to defeat The Lumbermaxes, Zack slowly becomes hostile and demanding towards the members of Just Getting Started, starts being critical of everything, and eventually wanting to play all their instruments all by himself.

The contest soon takes off, with Scott and the Undergrounders and the Lumbermaxes performing initially in front of a group of judges that includes Slash. After trying to figure out how he can play all his band-mates' instruments and his own at once, Zack realizes that he's lost sight of what the group came there to do. Just Getting Started then performs and, despite a flooding parking lot and other Murphy's Law hazards, wins the contest. Max then tries to convince Zack to rejoin the Lumbermaxes, but Zack refuses despite Max not listening. Slash tells him to just walk away.

## Transcript

*For a full transcript of **"Battle of the Bands"**, click here.*

## Song

* "He Will Be Our Leader"
* "Saw Away at My Heart"
* "A Bumpy Ride Tonight"

## Notes

### Production Information

* The segment was first released on the Disney XD app prior to its premiere date.

### International Airings

* June 11, 2017 (Hungary)
* July 7, 2017 (Southeast Asia)
* August 9, 2017 (Disney Channel Israel)

### Trivia

* Max has a darker complexion compared to how he appeared in "Secrets and Pies".
* One of the people who got their piercings pulled out in "Worked Day" is seen with a saxophone and with piercings again.
* Melissa, and again later Zack, worries Melissa's bass will go out of tune. It's something of an inside joke, as it is widely accepted basses don't go out of tune. (It could be that she thinks her strings are old and can't afford a new set.)
* There are several *Phineas and Ferb* extras in the audience such as Pyramid Peggy (with a different hairstyle), Momo (in blue instead of purple), Jeremy's unnamed drummer, and the Debater.
* The checkers players that are thrown around in "Rooting for the Enemy" and "Smooth Opera-tor" are seen in the audience.
* Two of the people in Scott's band look like Dan Povenmire (drummer) and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (man by the campfire).
* Logan is seen with the dog he has in the title sequence.
* Mort reveals he gets the hiccups when he's nervous
* The "Flower Duet" music plays when Mort takes a slow-motion dive into the flooded stage.
* This is the first time the LumberMax's have a speaking role.
* This is the only episode where Mort is shown shirtless.

### Allusions

* *Phineas and Ferb*:
	+ Just like the *Phineas and Ferb* song "Trees are Made of Wood", Scott's song "He Shall be Our Leader" only has the title as a line.
	+ Zack said that his band performed in the Quad-State Area, where Perry the Platypus was sent in *Oh, There You Are, Perry*.
	+ If one listens closely, at the end, when Slash says “Walk away, man, walk away”, you can hear him strumming what sounds like the intro guitar solo to “Kick It Up A Notch” from the *Across the Second Dimension* movie.
* The name of Zack's band, Just Getting Started, may be based off the song by Loverboy with same name.
* While practicing, Zack utters the line "Not quite my tempo." This line was uttered by the character Terence Fletcher, an abusive band instructor in the 2014 acclaimed film *Whiplash*.

### Errors

* When Zack's explanation to Mort about his past connection to The Lumbermaxes is interrupted by the echoing "2016", Milo erroneously claims he had the "reverb" turned all the way up. The effect heard is called "delay".
* When the band is rehearsing Melissa is seen motioning like she's playing even though there is no bass track heard.
	+ She does this again on stage during the intro to "A Bumpy Ride Tonight". (The bass doesn't come in until the last few measures of the intro.)
	+ Also, she moves her fingers considerably more than would be necessary to produce the bass track that is heard.
* Who is in the audience, and where they are seated, changes from scene to scene.
* When Slash is first introduced, he has a brown Les Paul (similar to his most often used in reality), but for the rest of the episode, he has a purple SG.
	+ The last time Slash is seen, his SG has turned brown.
* Just before Just Getting Started plays, Mort's white sleeves are missing.

### Locations

* Danville
	+ Battle of the Bands Location

### Cast and Characters

* Al Yankovic as Milo Murphy
* Mekai Curtis as Zack Underwood
* Sabrina Carpenter as Melissa Chase
* Slash as Himself (First appearance)
* Greg Cipes as Mort Schaeffer, Bad Idea Member 2 (credited as additional voices)

### Additional voices

* Olivia Olson as Shelley
* Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Saw Announcer
* Tyler Mann as Max
* Scott Peterson as Scott
* Django Marsh as Bad Idea Member 1, Bad Idea Member 3, Blonde Max, Slash Fan
* The Lumberzacks
* the Undergrounders
* Amanda Lopez (Non-speaking cameo)
* Lydia (Non-speaking cameo)
* Ms. Whipley (First appearance) (Non-speaking cameo)
* Mr. Schmidt (First appearance) (Non-speaking cameo)
* Reflective Randy and the See What You Becomes (First appearance)

## References

1. ↑ https://www.gyerek-vilag.tk/2017/05/a-disney-csatorna-juniusi-ujdonsagai.html