Half ‘n Half wins Battle of the Bands

By Ashley M. Von Arx

Cardinal Staff

The Page Theatre was transformed into a veritable display of madness and mayhem seldom witnessed by this quaint Midwestern, winter-dusted valley on Feb. 2 for the Battle of the Bands 2013.

The Student Activities Committee (SAC), in cooperation with the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity, designed the event to generate healthy competition and to create a fun distraction from the endless onslaught of classes, work and responsibility. Highlights of the evening included musician Camden Webster stripping down to his boxers on stage, amazing music, balloons and shirt-pants.  According to Phi Mu Alpha member John Fitzpatrick, the Battle of the Bands also included “Half ‘n Half’s greedy stacks on stacks of solos.” 

“I was confident in our band’s abilities, but I was very impressed with the other bands as well,” said Half ‘n Half’s lead guitarist Trevor Woggon. “And I thought it was a close contest.” 

Although whoever won was not the central focus of the event, every battle must have a winner. It seems that those “greedy stacks” may have played a part in securing the win for Half ‘n Half. 

The band had no particular expectation to win and expressed surprise when they were called to the stage for their encore.  They continued to please the audience with “White Room” by Cream. 

Bassist Paul Schmitt offered advice to other aspiring artists.  He said, “A person should do what he or she loves, which I agree with, but sometimes you have to do things you don’t love (lengthy rehearsals, play songs you don’t particularly like) in order to do the things you love. It’s a balance, and one should not quit something just because it’s not always enjoyable.”

Phi Mu Alpha will host a similar event for the Saint Mary’s community called Gaslight in March.