Arts | 4/9/08

Media Credit: Kris Marsh [Click to enlarge]

Pit against each other in a Battle of the Bands Tuesday night, four local bands were both friends and foes as they fought together to raise money for charity.

The event, sponsored by Alpha Gamma Delta, was aimed at raising funds and awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

"We decided to have a benefit concert so that we could make people aware of the disease and how it affects people's lives," Ruthie Kleintank, a junior international business major and member of Alpha Gamma Delta, said. "Music is something that's always fun, so we figured we'd do that and get some funds out of it as well."

The bands that performed included The Carbon Kin, Things That Fly, Interstate North, and The Good Fight.

"We could care less about the Battle of the Bands," Kevin Runyon, vocalist for The Carbon Kin, said. "It's a chance for us to do something for a good cause, as well as promote to a university. It helps both parties out here. I don't care about winning a battle of the bands, that's not my thing."

The bands were judged based on musicianship, visual presentation, originality, audience response, song writing, and overall entertainment value.

Things That Fly was announced the winner following the end of the show, and was awarded a $100 gift card to Guitar Center and a discount for time in a recording studio.

"I thought we were kind of sloppy tonight. The other three bands were really good. I really didn't think we were going to win tonight," Jeff Henley, a senior electronic media and film major and guitarist for Things that Fly, said. "I didn't see it coming. It was kind of cool going up there, but the acceptance speech was horribly awkward for me. I've never done anything like that."

The only complaint that some band members had was the lack of a crowd - though there were about 30 people in attendance when the concert started, the audience dwindled by the end of the evening.

"The crowd was alright," Runyon said. "The last show we played was our CD release show, which almost sold out, and then we came here and there's like 30 people standing around."

Henley said that despite the lack of attendees, he enjoyed the experience because of the laid-back atmosphere.

"This just seemed like a more genuine show," he said. "There's so many politics involved in a lot of other shows, like who can draw the most people and all of that. But everyone was real friendly and the fact that it was to raise money for diabetes was real cool too."

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