80s Madness: ZZ Top and the Beastie Boys Cruise to Easy Opening Round victories

Both John and Hector’s brackets had their third matchups in the opening round with 3-6 matchups. In this case, both 3-seeds cruised to easy victories. On John’s bracket, ZZ Top’s Eliminator defeated Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast. Meanwhile on Hector’s bracket, The Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill had no problem beating Run D.M.C.’s Run D.M.C. album.

While metal and hair bands are the story this year’s tournament, 6th Iron Maiden could not overcome 3rd seeded ZZ Top on John’s bracket. ZZ Top’s Eliminator won 64.3% to 35.7% over Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast. Iron Maiden is the first metal band eliminated.

On Hector’s bracket, it was a battle of Rap bands, and the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill defeated Run D.M.C.’s self-titled album 65% to 35%. This marks the third consecutive year the Beastie Boys have won a Round 1 match in the Battle of the Bands tournament.

With the win on John’s bracket, the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill will battle the winner of the 2-7 matchup between 2nd seeded The Clash’s London Calling and 7th seeded Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine. Meanwhile on Hector’s bracket, the Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill will face the winner of the matchup between 2nd seeded U2’s The Joshua Tree and 7th seeded Simple Minds’ Once Upon a Time.

To follow the current version of the brackets, see below:

• John’s Bracket
• Hector’s Bracket
• Dave’s Bracket
• Coop’s Bracket

To VOTE, go to the Cigar Coop Twitter Page for the latest matchups