Battle of the Bands scheduled to take over the Page

By Anna Segner

Cardinal Staff

Five bands will be competing in the Battle of the Bands at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Page Theatre. 

Each of the five bands will play a set of four songs, mostly cover songs, with at least one original song. The judges panel will include four SMU faculty members and four students. The bands are competing for cash prizes: $550 for first place, $200 for second place and $100 for third place. The winner of the competition also gets an automatic spot to perform at the centennial student celebration.  

This year, Student Activities Committee (SAC) is taking the battle to the Page Theatre. The new venue for the competition will bring a new light to the performance. Mike Miller, SAC member in lead on making Battle of the Bands possible, said, “The venue will be more formal, but in a good way, because if you want to be an active crowd you can, but you can also sit and watch.” 

The Page Theatre will offer “a better production and better sound qualities” for the performance, said Director of Student Activities Lance Thompson. The first Battle of the Bands competition was in the spring of 2002, which was Thompson’s freshman year at Saint Mary’s.  

On the new venue for the battle, Thompson said, “I think it will bring a lot more respect to the show, and we are hoping for more diverse group trying out to get the battle built up again in the future.”

Since this is the first time for the Battle of the Bands to take place at the Page Theatre, there will be SAC members in security shirts available to answer questions and make sure everything goes smoothly. “We are very appreciative that the performance center is allowing SAC to use their facilities” (Thompson).

Miller said, “The bands are all talented, with a wide variety. There’s acoustic to rock to punk to a jazzy blues sound.” 

The first band on the stage will be Jake Bruce and Petey Brown’s band Pseudo Sonic Motion, which will be playing punk pop music. The second band on stage will be the punk band, FNL Delivery Service, with Doug Leonard and Clinton Nienhaus. Third to take the stage will be John Fitzpatrick and Josh Carlson’s System of a Down cover band. The fourth band will be Trevor Woggon and Charlie Keyes’ classic rock band, Half & Half. Last to take stage will be the Ryan Weis and Tim Ellis’ band, Plaza Kings, with their pop ballads. 

“There will be a nice variety of music and the opportunity to see peers in a different setting,” said Miller.

Doors will open at 6:45 p.m. for the 7 p.m. performance.  There is noc ost to attend the event.