Battle of the Bands

Six finalists are left after UCCS's Battle of the Bands opening round last week. They will compete March 13 at the Blacksheep for a chance to open for the 3OH!3 concert this April.

Six finalists – three of which are UCCS acts – were chosen out of a pool of 22 UCCS and local musical acts. Shore White, J Carter and Splyt were the UCCS bands that made the cut. The Office of Student Activities (OSA) President Michelle Kissler told The Scribe that Shore White is a combination of UCCS student Sean Waldron and Undersummer Stars, a UCCS band who performed for the Phi Sigma Sigma benefit concert last fall.

J Carter, who is performing at the Talent for Haiti benefit concert coming up in April, is also a UCCS student.

Splyt is comprised of Chris Vigil, a student sports announcer whose music entertained crowds at UCCS basketball games last season.

The other three finalists, who are not UCCS acts, were Year 7, Golden Ticket and Take it to Eighty-eight.

Each band was given ten minutes to perform, with eleven bands performing on each night. OSA sponsored the event and was also in charge of the judging.

"We had two judges, one from OSA and one outside community member," said Kissler. "They each followed a set of judging criteria compiled from other campuses that have held Battle of the Bands, adjusted to fit an opener for 3OH!3."

Kissler said that turnout for the two opening round nights was decent. "First night was pretty average, and the next night we had a pretty steady flow of students," she said. Kissler estimated that 50 students showed up the first night, with about double that watching the performance the second night.

Kissler said that because 3OH!3 is practically of its own music genre, finding a band to open is difficult. "But the talent was pretty impressive. I was surprised," she said. "Anytime you have a competition like that, you're going to have some bands that are not what you're looking for, but you always get some really good ones too."

The opportunity to open for a major label band is likely a welcome opportunity for up-and-coming artists, including those from UCCS. "It's kind of surreal, actually, just because 3OH!3 is huge," said Waldron, who is performing with Shore White. "The chance to open up for 6,000 people is something that a week ago I wouldn't have thought possible. But somehow it's happening and it's happening next week. We're getting a chance."

OSA selected 3OH!3 on Jan. 22 to headline its first annual spring concert this April 22. 3OH!3 is comprised of CU-Boulder alumnus Nathaniel Motte and Sean Foreman, and is known for its unique blend of electronic and hip hop music.

The Battle of the Bands Finals will be held at the Black Sheep (2106 East Platte Ave) on March 13 at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7:30). The event is free for students with a UCCS ID card.

Check out OSA's website for more information about The Battle of the Bands, as well as the 3OH!3 concert at http://www.uccs.edu/~osa/index.html. u

Tim Canon contributed to this article.