Bands battle for limelight
Last Thursday, April 3, the Resident Student Association (RSA) and the Phi Mu Alpha sinfonia hosted the annual Battle of the Bands. The “battle” took place in Magnolia Ballroom at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $3 and could be purchased in advance.
The Vice President of RSA, freshman Jamie Knox, explains that six bands auditioned to play, though only five were chosen for the competition. The five bands fought for an opportunity to win two different awards: the judge’s vote and the audience’s vote. The winning bands received $250 and $100 respectively. The audience had opportunities for prizes, too. A raffle was held for CDs and a Sony Ericsson cell phone.
During the event, the audience was entertained by junior Justin Miles and freshman Molly McMillan. Miles and McMillan kept the crowd excited by giving away t-shirts and flying discs. The audience was also provided free Rockstar energy drinks.
The night began with a performance by the guitar duo The Jimmy Caps. The guitarists wore neon orange hats and performed songs by famous artists such as 311 and Everclear. The Jimmy Caps were eventually disqualified from the audience vote due to discrepancies in performance guidelines.
Louis Cypher was the second band to perform. The group consisted of a four-man band without a vocalist. They wrote all of their own songs and claimed to be “looking for a singer.”
K-Macks Endeavor, a band based out of Northeast Georgia performed third. The three glasses-wearing musicians claimed to be a rock and roll band with much influence from “punk rock, ska, reggae, country and more.”
The fourth band in the battle was The Keys. The two freshmen from Atlanta played piano and guitar and performed a mix of both original songs and a cover of James Blunt’s “1973.”
The last band in the competition was Orange Free State. It held the audience’s attention with a cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” and two original songs. Orange Free State consists of three GCSU students and a freshman from Georgia Military College High School. Orange Free State won the audience’s vote due to its talent and interaction with the audience. During their performance, it was clear that they were the crowd’s favorite.
The three judges of the battle, Dr. Stephanie McClure, Douglas O’Grady and Bellee Jones, were chosen by David McLaughlin of Phi Mu Alpha, the male music fraternity. After much discussion and analyzing, the judges chose K-Macks as the winners of this year’s battle of the bands.
Both Orange Free State and K-Macks were given the opportunity to perform at next month’s VillageFest at The Village at West Campus. Junior Max Shultz, classical guitar performance major and member of K-Macks, said that the band would be unable to perform because the other two members of the band do not go to GCSU and would have difficulty making it to the show.
Orange Free State will be performing, though and will be playing “all of the songs we can write in three weeks with a few surprise covers,” says sophomore guitarist Sean Thrower.
Both bands plan on using the prize money to better the bands. K-Macks plans to use their prize money to pay off parking tickets and invest in a savings account for the band. Orange Free State will use their $100 to buy new equipment for the band.
While the judges deliberated, The Taxi, a band from Atlanta, entertained the crowd. One of the songs The Taxi performed, “I Won’t Be Too Far,” is available on iTunes.
The night ended with an encore of winning band K-Macks playing their new song “Do Engage.”
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Apr 11 2008. Filed under Features.
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