Student-bands rocked out to display their talents in hopes of winning the top-prize at the Flash Activities Board’s “Battle of the Bands” Saturday night.
Clara Hubbard, a senior and the director of entertainment for Flash Activities Board, said they have not hosted an event like this before, and that they wanted to do something different.
“So, I wanted to bring something new to FAB that was kind of a more bigger, more interactive audience-like entertainment kind of event,” Hubbard said.
To get the bands, Hubbard said FAB posted on their social media, in which students voted on who they wanted to see.
“So we do a lot of polling on our story,” Hubbard said. “We did a poll for bands to participate in that, and so three of the bands that are in here are from that poll.”
Along with the polls on the social media page, Hubbard also promoted a form bands filled out if they wanted to participate.
“Then, I also did a lot of marketing,” Hubbard said. “I’m like, ‘hey, if you’re interested, fill out this form,’ and then we got the other two bands from that.”
Ariyanna Robb, a senior and the vice president for Flash Activities Board, was a judge for the event. She said she looked forward to seeing gifted students, while she used her musical background to judge.
“I’m just excited to see the musical talent of the students coming,” Robb said. “Coming from a musical background in high school, like that was my whole life. So, being able to judge it with the knowledge that I know, I’m just excited to kind of experience that.”
Robb said characteristics that make a band stand out is their ability to have good connections with the crowd, putting on a great show and having a “memorable performance.”
What makes a performance memorable is having character, while also being able to accept constructive feedback, Robb said.
“Just having that personality, having the talent and then also being able to take criticism if there is any given,” she said.
Yalanda Johnson, a criminology graduate student, said she attended the event because the music appealed to her.
“I like music,” Johnson said. “And I like live entertainment and I like bands.”
Johnson said music can bring pleasure and lift the ambience and expressed how she finds that to be enriching.
“Oh, you know, music, it always makes you feel good,” Johnson said. “It changes the mood and changes your atmosphere, and sometimes it gives you the energy you need that keeps pushing you forward, so it’s rewarding.”
Casey Ha, a sophomore music technology major at Kent State Stark and the frontman for the band Lady Lyre, formed his band in 2019, according to the band’s website.
“The band was founded… by myself and we have gone through many members but we currently have a great lineup,” Ha said.
Ha said writing music that is paramount to him and music that he is pleased with is necessary. An influence to him is attending the university and using the acquired skills he learns in classes to produce moving music.
“I think writing music that is very important to me and that I am proud of is very important to me,” Ha said. “And a big inspiration is going to music school here at Kent State and using the knowledge I gain from my classes to write meaningful music.”
After all the bands performed and judges made their picks, People in the Daytime were crowned the “Battle of the Bands” winner.
MinJee Yoo is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
