Battle of the Bands Rocks Campus

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Photograph by Lee Hassler

Winners! — Funka-Fresha-Lishush smiles victorious after being chosen overall winners of the night

   Screaming guitars and wailing voices marked the beginning of the Battle of the Bands with more than a hundred people showing up to check out the local talent at the Fine Arts Center Oct. 4.

   The event-filled night went rapidly from band to soloist and back to band in very efficient transitions that left the entertainment a non-stop melee of various styles and sound.

   The evening was brought to a screamingly efficient start with the rocking alternative beats of Evanside, whose members Nate Howell, Greg Prewitt and Aaron Rice tried their best to bring the roof down around them wrapping up their evening to screaming standing ovations.

   Though Evanside undoubtedly rocked the house, the competition was far from over as Funka-Fresha-Lishush followed a stunning rendition of Shania Twain's "The Woman in Me"" delivered flawlessly by Hamburg sophomore Lauren Barnett to once again set the house on fire with the down and dirty funk tones that left the listeners tapping their feet and screaming for more. Kasey Earl, Timothy Woods, Jonathan Bradley and Josh Goan showed what Funk music is supposed to sound like with rocking vocals and instrumentals keeping the show alive with original tune "Funka-Fresha-Lishush," as well as "ESPN" and "Marvelous Light."

Photograph by Lee Hassler

Voice of Angels — Randa Pruitt melts the audience's heart with her performance of "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."

   Funka-Fresha-Lishush's dramatic finish was chased down firmly with an eye-wateringly beautiful performance of "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" by Crossett junior Randa Pruitt, who finished her solo to a standing ovation followed closely by the heavy gothic rock notes of the third band of the night, The Autumn Effect. The Autumn Effect delivered an outstanding performance with the sexy Destiny Baxter rocking the night to the tunes of "Infinite Sadness" and "Blame" with Chris Baxter, Gregg Shelby and Justin Walker adding the rocking tunes that turned this band into another house-raising performance.

   An all too soon wrap up of the evening began when the last band of the night, SufferKate, exploded into action in the wake of the gripping sounds of Monticello freshman Jermaine Smiley's exacting voice as he gave the performance of a lifetime with the song "When I Speak Your Name." SufferKate's Danny Hales, Don Johnson, Jerry Hughes and Chris Castlebury stepped into the hard-to-follow footsteps of the other bands of the night with a head-banging, chord-ripping style that made musical notes feel like physical manifestations that embedded the heart and soul of raw and rude rock and roll into the audience with their playing of "Fall Away" and "My Revenge."

   With the exit of SufferKate marking the last of the awesome band performances of the night, the first of the last two soloists, Texarkana first-year student Jason Spradling, came to stage to deliver an outstanding performance of his original song "Face to Face," followed by the last, but certainly not least, entertainer Jennifer Walter's with her heart-melting recreation of Christina Aguilera's "The Voice Within."

Photograph by Lee Hassler

ROCK ON! — SufferKate rocks the night with a stunning performance that led to their winning one of the two "People's Choice" awards.

   With the end of the music, came the moment of truth for the competing bands and soloists of the night. Members of the audience cast their votes for the People's Choice soloist and band of the night, while a three-judge panel comprised of Brad Kelly, Jim Waley and Billy Hogue decided the overall winning band for the night.

   "Evanside ROCKS! And their cute!" Jennifer Hicks of Sigma Sigma Sigma exclaimed when asked who her favorites of the night were. "Lauren Barnett did great also."

   Though everyone had their favorites, the ways of the world dictate that someone must be chosen as a winner, though there were certainly no losers in this outstanding group of entertainers. In the end, SufferKate and Randa Pruitt walked away with the People's Choice award, with the overall winners of the night being Funka-Fresha-Lishush.

   This was certainly an event to remember and the countdown starts already for the days left until the next Battle of the Bands begins and once again rocks the UAM campus.

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