Large Turnout for First ‘Battle of the Bands'

With Stroke 9's drummer and Olympic Gold Medalist Amy Chow judging, student musicians competed on stage at the first annual "Battle of the Bands" Friday night.

The event, showcasing musical talent among UC Berkeley students, quickly maxed out its 800 seating capacity 30 minutes after opening its doors, leaving between 60 to 100 attendees shut out from the event.

The stage hosted a wide array of performers, including rock, jazz, rap, funk, showtunes, opera and "folksy country types of music," said event organizer ASUC Senator Joanne Liu. The campus's familiar a capella groups also joined the evening's lineup of musicians.

Judge Neil Trama, a talent scout from Madonna's label, Maverick Records, said he saw some real talent at the show.

"A couple of bands, I thought, could have a future in music," he said.

Trama said he particularly liked "the Librarians," which featured a dancer with a peculiar style. He also said he liked the a capella group DeCadence, who spoofed a popular Nine Inch Nails song into "I Want to Eat You Like an Animal."

"They are all very talented," Trama said. "(This) is what I do every day-I'm listening to demos or going out to see bands, and I see who's got the potential."

"The Librarians" won the first place prize, a paid performance at Blakes Bar and Restaurant and $500 in studio time.

Many attendees came to see their friends perform.

"I knew the guys in the band 'Mastema,' so of course I liked them a lot," said Karin Krattli, a sophomore political science major.

But the large turnout created problems for latecomers, who were shut out from the performance. The main problem, critics said, was that as attendees trickled out of Pauley Ballroom as the evening wore on, UCPD and the building managers barred entry to latecomers.

UC police officials and building managers were unavailable for comment.

"Since people had been leaving periodically, why weren't they letting people in?" said Brendan Ludwick, a recent UC Berkeley graduate. "It made no sense at all."

Liu said the show was running behind schedule since it took time to seat 800 people, and UCPD was stringent about extending the event time. Police officers shined floodlights into the ballroom as the show ended.

"I feel like they are so paranoid about riots forming," Liu said. "The floodlights were not cool. It was like a warning, and I did everything I could to finish on time, and it did."

Pauley Ballroom was the site of a melee last October when approximately a hundred students looted stores on Telegraph Avenue when they were refused admission into a dance.

The time crunch also drew some criticism from the musicians, some of whom were cut off earlier than expected, said Ryan Carney, who played with the band "Mastema."

"But it was good all around. I'm sure the wrinkles will be ironed out (for next year)," he said. "There was a lot of great music and it was cool to see all the bands play and perform."

Tags: