To quote one first-round upset victim, what a long, strange trip it’s been. Believe it or not, we have finally reached the end of the road.

And now, the winner of the Tournament of Rock – Legends, by a comfortable margin of 68% to 32%…

Pink Floyd.

We’d like to extend a big thanks to all of you who participated with your votes and comments, and I’d especially like to thank my co-director (who’d probably rather not be associated with this outcome, but too bad), Dr. Jim Booth.

Here is the final bracket. See you next time.

198 bands and solo artists, 66 posts, nearly five months of listening, debating and voting, and finally here we are. We ask you to give them another listen, think critically about what it means to be a great band instead of merely a favorite band and cast your vote for the winner of the Tournament of Rock – Legends. Your contestants: first, the winners of the Budokan region, #2 seed The Rolling Stones. Their opponents, winners of the Fillmore region, #2 seed Pink Floyd.

#2 The Rolling Stones: Listen	#2 Pink Floyd: Listen

Polls close Wednesday morning.
_________________________

Updated bracket:

Perhaps it says something about perceived influence at the present time, or maybe it just means that people like listening to Pink Floyd more than they do The Who (although the producers of the CSI franchise would surely take issue). In any case, the results of our second semifinal are in, and I don’t think anyone is terribly surprised. Results: #2 Pink Floyd 65%; #3 The Who 35%.

On Monday morning the Grand Final will commence.

Whatever we may all have thought about the results of various pods along the way, however shocked or incensed we may have been at some of the upsets, however annoyed we might have gotten over the incursions of fan club voters, in the end this much is safe to say: there’s a very small handful of artists who belong in the conversation for the greatest band of all time, and I imagine our two finalists would appear on most people’s short lists.

It’s The Rolling Stones vs. Pink Floyd. We’ll see you Monday.

_________________________

Updated bracket:

Our first semi-final was a tough, hard fought, back-and-forth affair. When the smoke cleared, The Stones had prevailed, and now advance to the Final. The numbers: #2 The Rolling Stones 54%; #5 Neil Young 46%.

In our second semi, the band that invented “Power Pop” (they’re probably more remembered for the “power” part) tees it up with the band that invented atmosphere. Cue: house lights down…

#2 Pink Floyd: Listen	#3 The Who: Listen

Polls close Friday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Bob Geldof and Toolbox.com.

Welcome to the Tournament of Rock – Legends Final Four. Let’s get it started. Up first, The Rolling Stones and Neil Young, the winners of the Budokan and Red Rocks regions, respectively.

#2 The Rolling Stones: Listen	#5 Neil Young: Listen

Polls close Wednesday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Raymond Pronk and Rock God Cred.

On Monday morning the Final Four of our unpredictable challenge to name the greatest band of all time kicks off. Our matchups feature the #3 seed from the Hollywood Bowl region, The Who, vs. the Fillmore region’s #2, Pink Floyd. In the other contest, Budokan #2 The Rolling Stones meet the #5 seed from the Red Rocks region, Neil Young.

Until then, let’s hear from you. Specifically, tell us who your Final Four would be. Don’t worry about how we had bands seeded or bracketed – just tell us who you think the four greatest bands of all time are. (I’ll drop mine in the comment thread below.)

We’ll see you Monday.

Up next, our search for the greatest band of all time heads out to the final of the Hollywood Bowl region – and the first showdown between members of the “Holy Trinity.” This oughta be fun.

#1 The Beatles: Listen	#3 The Who: Listen

Polls close Friday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Rebuild from Depression and Toolbox.com.

Up next, our search for the greatest band of all time takes you to the Budokan regional final. Do The Police have one more (really huge) upset left in them? We’ll soon find out.

#2 The Rolling Stones: Listen	#4 The Police: Listen

Polls close Wednesday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Raymond Pronk.

Up next, our search for the greatest Baby Boomer band of all time takes you to the Fillmore region. Hold still – this is going to sting a little.

#1 Led Zeppelin: Listen	#2 Pink Floyd: Listen

Polls close Monday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Dillsnap Cogitations and Virgin Media.

We have reached the Great 8 in our contest to name the greatest band of all time. Let’s begin with the Red Rocks regional final, where our readers’ apparent choice for best punk band ever takes on the lowest remaining seed.

#2 The Clash: Listen	#5 Neil Young: Listen

Polls close Friday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Joel Eisenberg, MediaSpin and MoreThings.com.

Up next, our search for the greatest Baby Boomer band of all time takes you to the Fillmore region, where the ToR’s upset king (and our lone remaining unseeded contestant) faces The Wall.

#2 Pink Floyd: Listen	Santana/Carlos Santana: Listen

Polls close Wednesday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Spain Rocks and Virgin Media.

Up next, our search for the greatest Baby Boomer band of all time takes you to the Hollywood Bowl region where the heavy favorite awaits another challenger. Can Elvis pull off the biggest upset ever?

#1 The Beatles: Listen	#4 Elvis Costello: Listen

Polls close Monday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Rebuild from Depression and Retro Music Snob.

Up next, our search for the greatest band of all time takes you to the Red Rocks region. In the red corner, a band that’s had the same lineup since day one. In the blue corner, an artist who has established his greatness in three different incarnations. Get your thinking caps on, kiddies.

#1 U2: Listen	#5 Neil Young: Listen

Polls close tomorrow morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: Time and Rock God Cred.

Update 2: The poll is closed. For some reason PollDaddy is having technical issues and as a result you can still vote. However, we have a final tally as of 11 am MST and no further votes are being accepted. Sorry about this.

UPDATE: As much as we love The Police, we never expected this match to be so close. But here it is – 8am, neck-and-neck. We’ll leave the polls open until around 11, so if you haven’t yet voted, please step into the booth…

______________________

Results: Can it ever be an upset when the favorite wins? Honestly, even though they’re seeded higher, it has to be a bit of a surprise that The Clash managed to beat “the voice of Generation X.” Or maybe it isn’t… The numbers: #2 The Clash 55%; #3 Nirvana 45%. I don’t klnow about the Casbah, but The Clash will be rocking the Great 8.

Up next, the pain continues in the Budokan region, where the contest to name the greatest band in the world serves up … a mismatch? Or not – you never know with this crowd.

#1 Bob Dylan: Listen	#4 The Police: Listen

Polls close Monday morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credit: SixSongs.

Results: It was a see-saw battle where each artist surged dramatically, but Zep surged hardest and latest. The numbers: #1 Led Zeppelin 60%; #5 Jimi Hendrix 40%. Led Zeppelin is into the Great 8.

Up next – since our quest for the greatest band of all time tortured Boomers in the last pod, it seems only fair that we provide equal opportunity for Gen Xers to tear their hair out trying to decide between two of the bands that defined th-th-th-their generation. There aren’t any wrong answers here, although there are lots and lots of bad reasons. Let the anguish commence.

#2 The Clash: Listen	#3 Nirvana: Listen

Polls close tomorrow morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credits: CRFranke and ScrapeTV.

Results: I suppose when a #3 seed beats a #2 seed and the #3 seed is one of the most important and influential bands of all time it’s hard to call it an upset, huh? The numbers: #3 The Who 66%; #2 Bruce Springsteen/E Street Band 34%. The Who are our first band into the Great 8.

Now let’s truck the tournament to name the greatest band of all time out to the Fillmore region and see if we can’t incite fans of incendiary hard rock guitar into a galloping hissy fit.

#1 Led Zeppelin: Listen	#5 Jimi Hendrix: Listen

Put that in yer bong and smoke it. Polls close tomorrow morning.

The updated bracket looks like this:

Image credits: UnrealityTV and Kalamu.com.

#2 Bruce Springsteen/E Street Band: Listen	#3 The Who: Listen

Polls close tomorrow morning.

Image credits: NewCity.com and Toolbox.com.

Our last pod ended the Great 48 on a subdued note. Nirvana won handily, but voter turnout was low. Does this mean trouble for “the voice of Generation X” at the next level? We’ll know soon enough. The numbers: #3 Nirvana 56%; #8 John Mellencamp 32%; Los Lobos 12%.

On Monday we’ll launch the third phase of the Tournament of Rock – Legends, as our contest to name the greatest band of all time kicks off the Sweet 16. To make sure we have everybody’s attention, we’ll be starting with an absolute scorcher in the Hollywood Bowl region.

And now, here’s a few factoids of potential interest on the ToR so far:

• Consecutive wins by favored artists: 10
• Consecutive upsets: 3
• Total number of wins by favorites: 30
• Total number of upsets: 18
• Total wins by “Baby Boomer bands”*: 33
• Total wins by “Gen X bands”: 15
• Your humble tournament director’s voting record: 26-22
• Number of voter decisions that your humble tournament director views as indefensible by any standards (this would not include upsets that he merely disagrees with, such as Jimi Hendrix over REM – these are the egregious cases only): 4 (Santana over Van Morrison; Doobie Brothers over Joni Mitchell and Todd Rundgren; Robert Palmer over Green Day; Joan Jett over Elton John, Lush and maybe even White Zombie)
• Number of voter decisions that your humble tournament director thinks the voters botched badly, but not as badly as the crop in the previous bullet: 3 (Santana over Eels; Los Lobos over Steely Dan; Billy Joel over Cheap Trick)
• Number of cases where your humble tournament director was personally sympathetic to a massive upset, while at the same time acknowledging that an injustice may have been done in the process: 1 (Queensryche over The Allman Brothers Band)
• Number of cases where your humble tournament director was personally sympathetic to a massive upset, while having no sympathy at all for complaints that an injustice may have been done: 1 (Queensryche over The Grateful Dead)
• Number of cases where the voters appeared to give a happy damn about what the tournament director thinks: 0

* We’re counting Punk and New Wave with X here; although all of these artists were Boomer era themselves, the New Wave movement arrived while the front edge of X was in high school and defined the generation’s coming-of-age moment in much the same way that the British Invasion defined the ascendance of the Boom. Roughly, bands that established their legends pre-1978 or so we’ll classify with the Baby Boom (which means that “Boomerish” bands like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Dire Straits are counted with X).

See you Monday.

And now, the final Great 48 pod in our search for the greatest band of all time. Let’s head out to the Red Rocks region for a throwdown hosted by one of the most important game-changers in rock history.

• #3 Nirvana: Listen
• #8 John Mellencamp: Listen
• Los Lobos: Listen

Polls close tomorrow.

Image link: AudioHallucinations

Results: Boomer legend nard-stomps Xer legend. In other news, sun rises in East. The numbers: #5 Jimi Hendrix 67%; #4 REM 24%; Joan Jett/Blackhearts 10%. Jimi advances to the Sweet 16.

Up next, our quest to find the greatest band of all time slides over to the Budokan region, where one of the stronger candidates to unhorse The Beatles looks to start it up.

• #2 The Rolling Stones: Listen
• #7 Bob Marley/Wailers: Listen
• #10 The Sex Pistols: Listen

It’s Election Day in America – please, no voter fraud. Polls close tomorrow.