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There was something for everyone last weekend at the Battle
of the Bands. There was a little rock, a little metal and
little acoustic, and all was represented through a competition
between eight bands.
About
60 people came to watch Battle of the Bands, which was held
in the Poultry Science Auditorium Saturday and Sunday. Each
band included at least
one UA student.
Battle
of the Bands was sponsored by Residents' Interhall Congress.
David Embree, the only 1-man act in the competition, stole
the attention of the judges and won the 1st place prize of
$500.
All
eight bands preformed for 20 minutes each on Saturday, and
the top three were invited back for 1-hour performances on
Sunday.
David
Embree, Bellasera and Shattered were the 3 bands in the Sunday
playoffs, each playing only original songs.
David
Embree turned the auditorium into a vh1 Storytellers-like
environment with his acoustic guitar and interaction with
the audience. Embree graced the stage with his innocent look
and sincere smile. His
songs ranged from funny and upbeat to sincere and mellow.
One
song Embree played was dedicated to "a very special woman
in the audience-" his mother.
Embree
entertained with his lyrics and began each song with a short
story of its origin. As he played, he moved the audience to
laugher, tears and smiles.
One member on the audience described Embree as "a lyrical
genius with a soft voice."
Second
place Shattered opened on Sunday and woke up the crowd with
their heavy metal music. Shattered held the audience's attention
with high energy and lead singer Dan Snow's wide range of
vocals. Shattered has been together for six months, and this
was their first experience with a Battle of the Bands competition.
They've played at venues such as Clunk and George's before.
Josh
Langly, lead guitarist of Shattered, when asked what he thought
of the competition,
said, "We just wanted to scare people." Saturday,
however, Snow assured the audience, "We're not satanic
or anything."
Shattered
will play April 7 at Clunk.
Bellasera
came in 3rd place Sunday. The harmonic vocals of singers Michelle
Selby and Beverly Blann pleased the audience and left many
asking if they had
CD's for sale. They have not yet released a CD but are working
on one. Bellasera has only been together for a year and includes
Michelle Selby, vocals and acoustic guitar, Beverly Blann,
vocals and electric guitar, Paul
Wardein, bass, and Jason Wright, drums.
Bellasera
plays April 7 at JR's for the KXUA Birthday Bash and April
17 at Clunk.
Bethany
Ballard was in charge of putting together Battle of the Bands
and believed it went well. She said she thought it went "really
smooth" and said it "wasn't stressful at all."
"I really enjoyed it a lot," Ballard said.
Elizabeth Hulsey, committee member of Battle of the Bands,
said they've been working on it since the beginning of the
semester, but it "wasn't really that hard." In preparation
members of the committee had to post flyers to tell bands
about the event, make a time schedule, and find a sound guy.
Hulsey
also helped last year with Battle of the Bands. She said that
the biggest deal this year was getting the RIC funding for
the event.
Bands
were judged on things such as technical skill, expressiveness,
originality, energy, expertise, accuracy and talent. They
were also judged on stage presence, appearance, general intrigue
and vocal clarity and quality.
The
eight bands competing were The Midnight Special, Meek, Midnight
Run, Bellasera, Tycho, David Embree, The March Hare, and Shattered.
Battle
of the Bands was well received by many students present at
the event.
"I
think it's great that the UA has events like this to promote
local musicians. It's fun to get to see such a wide array
of bands at the same place," said Belle Campbell, UA
sophomore.
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