Debate Team Hosts Battle of the Bands

Arts & Entertainment Editor

    The Debate Team will host the sixth annual Battle of the Bands in the Fine Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 13.

   The event allows bands to perform three songs; one must be an original song.  Each band can perform for up to 10 minutes. The winning bands will be selected on the basis of the Judge’s Choice or the audience’s choice.

   “I just hope everybody comes and enjoys a good evening of fun,” senior Joel Brown said.

   Three judges, who have experience in the music business, will decide the judge’s choice. The judges may be disc jockeys, former musicians or someone who worked in the music industry.  The winners of the judge’s choice might receive airtime on a radio station and an on-air interview.

   The audience will vote for their favorite band by placing their tickets in boxes with the name of their favorite band on it. The band with the most tickets wins the People’s Choice Award.  Originally, the audience decided the winner in this way, and the club wanted to keep with tradition of deciding the winner by the audience vote, as well as the addition of judges.

    Audience members will also get the chance to act like a rock band with the Xbox game “Rock Band.” Audience members will play on game controllers that look like the instruments during the time they switch to a new band.  Three to four people can from a band, including a singer, percussion player, guitar player and bass player.

   Interested audience members can play the game by paying an extra dollar when purchasing their ticket, and they will receive an extra ticket. The game will be projected onto a big pull-down screen.

   The event helps raise money for the Debate Team and Pi Kappa Delta to help with expenses.

   “Where else can you see five bands play for $3 or $4,” senior Brian Rauls said, “especially in Monticello.”
  
   Battle of the Bands started in 2003 with a suggestion from Matt Baumgarten, a 2006 University of Arkansas-Monticello graduate. Baumgarten, from Detroit, Mich., liked rock music and wanted to produce a talent show based on the theme. The Debate Team created Battle of the Bands after the talent show held before the creation of this event fell through.

   For more information concerning Battle of the Bands, please e-mail Brown at sdb1630@uamont.edu or Rauls at blr5106@uamont.edu. 

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