When the smoke cleared at the Battle of the Bands in the Rathskeller last week, there was a clear winner: NJs and the Jeff. I should know -ÿI helped judge the event. I listened to other judges talk about the bands and the performances they gave. It was an opinion that was universal to the judges’ table.

The band will perform today at 4 p.m. And if you plan on attending the event, you should be there -ÿyou’ll be treated to a unique brand of rock n’ roll that was good enough to win our votes.

If you look at the schedule of the day’s events, you’ll also notice that Tropidelic is playing at 6 p.m.

Here’s your news flash: Tropidelic doesn’t deserve to be on that roster.

Like many other bands who entered, Tropidelic lost in the Battle of the Bands to a much-superior NJs and the Jeff. But somehow, the maligned Sublime ripoff managed to find themselves on the FlashFest lineup -ÿand even worse, the group is playing at a more desirable time than the band who actually won the “epic” competition.

If you’re the All-Campus Programming Board, why would you even bother with a contest when you’re going to arbitrarily select bands to play in the show, regardless of how they performed in the battle? This decision shows a lack of political tact and absolutely zero respect for the artists who worked their asses off to win the chance to perform on-stage in front of their peers.

ACPB: You dragged hard-working bands through this process under the disguise of being democratic. You lied to the bands, their fans and this university. You screwed up, and you owe NJs and the Jeff an apology.

With actions like this, it’s no wonder ACPB was absorbed by USS. Keep up the good work -ÿyou’re only proving your critics right.

Ben Breier is a senior newspaper journalism major and the entertainment editor of the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].