Alex Herman, Mike Watson and John Zarski of Aviatik play in the Battle of the Bands last night at the Rathskeller. The finals are April 18, and the winner gets to play at FlashFest. JAMESON CAMPBELL | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Steve Schirra

About 160 students gathered in the Rathskeller last night to support the All Campus Programming Board’s annual event Battle of the Bands.

Battle of the Bands, which holds a different musical genre competition every two weeks, called on the local punk scene for its second competition of the year. However, the end result was a mixture of sounds that defied common labeling.

“I don’t really like labels,” said Daniel Corrigan, senior music education major and drummer for the band Goose. “We’re not really a punk band. We don’t even sing. We have more of a raging improv style.”

The night’s opening band, The Curfew, received applause with several songs including a very up-beat cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.”

Curfew guitarist Pat Kennedy is an undeclared freshman at Cuyahoga Community College and said he didn’t expect the crowd’s enthusiasm.

“People hate us,” Kennedy said. “Usually, people just stand there with their arms crossed because we’re not screaming, and we don’t wear girl pants.”

The hard rock sound of Aviatik came next and was followed by Parsley Flakes and Sometime After Dark.

“We don’t really have one sound,” said Adam Hendricks, sophomore public relations major and guitarist for Sometime After Dark. “There are many different styles within the band – a lot of different things going on to influence us. No one person takes leadership.”

At the end of the night, however, it was the audience vote that decided who had rocked the hardest.

The winner from each genre night will compete in the final “Battle of the Bands” in April. The champion of the final battle will take the stage during this year’s FlashFest.

“I’d love to play at FlashFest,” Horning said. “But, whether we end up winning or not, we’re out here tonight just to play and get some exposure.”

Special events director Amy Mathews attended Battle of the Bands as both main coordinator and onlooker.

“Besides FlashFest, Battle of the Bands is the biggest draw,” said Mathews, senior communication major. “People should come because Kent doesn’t have much going on besides music and some basketball. Music means a lot to Kent. It’s a good thing for student talent to be seen and heard.”

ACPB’s next genre night is scheduled for March 21. This “Battle of the Beats” will be hip-hop-themed and is free to undergraduate students.

Contact on-campus entertainment reporter Ally Melling at [email protected].