Bands

The following 10 bands were selected for season 1.

• Aaroh (1st - winners)
• Entity Paradigm (2nd)
• Mekaal Hassan Band (3rd)
• Aks
• Brain Masala
• Messiah
• Mizmaar
• Sahara
• The Shahzad Hameed Project
• Yaar

The following bands failed to make the top 10 for season 1.

• Aasaar
• Azal (no-show)
• Just in Case
• Naqsh
• Once
• Punch
• Ravens
• Saaz
• Silence (disqualified)
• Still (no-show)

Judges

The judges for season 1 included former members of the band Vital Signs and music producers Shahi Hasan and Rohail Hyatt as well as Pakistani fashion and music critic Fifi Haroon.

History

The return of the show and subsequent second season was revealed in early 2017.^[8] It also marked the return of season 1 winners Aaroh to the music scene after 8 years - although they had released "Mera Pyar" in 2014 with vocalist Rizwan Anwar, it received little attention.^[9] Season 2 also marks the return of Fawad Khan to music.

Promotion

The promo video song was released on 22 July 2017.^[10] It featured Atif Aslam, Meesha Shafi and Fawad Khan performing a tribute-mashup of Vital Signs' "Do Pal Ka Jeevan" and Alamgir's "Dekha Na Tha"; as well as Shahi Hasan on guitars with the trio. The video also showed many young people performing which is the show's main target audience.^[11]

The Pakistani music streaming platform Patari.pk put up Entity Paradigm's debut album Irtiqa on its service along with creating "Best of Playlists" of S1 winners Aaroh as well as Mekaal Hasan Band and Mizmaar, both bands which went on to mainstream success because of S1.^[12]

Judges and host

The judges of S2 included Fawad Khan, Meesha Shafi and Farooq Ahmed in the auditions round while Khan, Shafi, Atif Aslam and Shahi Hasan were the jusdes in the knockout round. Ayesha Omer was the host of the season.^[13]

Episodes

Production

Broadcast

Following television channels aired the show:^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Reception

Season 2 has mostly received positive reviews. Maheen Sabeeh of The News said, "Whether the show manages to accomplish its mission statement to the letter remains to be seen but, having spoken to almost all major players in the production, it can be said with certainty that it has just the right motivation behind it and that matters more than we care to admit."^[18] The Nation wrote, "With such an eclectic mix of sounds and energies, right from the get go - we are rooted to our televisions, waiting with bated breath till the second episode of the inevitably and justifiably iconic, biggest music battle in the country; Pepsi Battle of the Bands."^[14] Vafa Batool of Pakistan Today wrote "The first episode showed how the judges focused on grossly distinct aspects of the performances. Fawad Khan preferred to acknowledge the raw live energy on stage while Meesha Shafi's focus remained largely on vocal quality. Farooq Ahmed offered technical help to the bands as a well-nuanced musician who was more concerned about improving the sounds further."^[19] Dawn wrote "Looks like we're in for a great show"^[20]

However, the second season has been criticized by some as well. Pakistani music, fashion critic and Season 1 judge Fifi Haroon on her Twitter called it "bland, listless". Speaking to Gulf News journalist Usman Ghafoor, Pakistani culture critic Nadeem Farooq Paracha said, "Pepsi is 10 years too late. When the last season went on air, the reality was quite different; we still had underground and mainstream music happening at the time. From mid-2000s on, the bands started to whittle away for all sorts of reasons — political, social, and security. Besides, today, we are talking about a different generation — not even the millennials but generation Z, the kids who were born in early 2000s or late 1990s. The dynamics of understanding and listening to music have changed all around the world. No one listens to albums or CDs now; they listen to singles and stream videos. BOTB, in my opinion, has failed to capture the imagination of this new generation."^[21]

Some critics even compared the show with Coke Studio though the comparison has been rejected by those involved with the show.^[22] Pakistani actor Shaan Shahid criticized the format of the show and said on his Facebook that Pepsi should stick to critic as Coke Studio owns the music scene.^[23] His comments received a lot of criticism.^[24]

The decision to not include some bands in the top eight particularly the band Khamaaj was criticized.^[25]