You didn’t have to know how to play an instrument to compete in the Battle of the Bands that was held April 9 in the Commons Auditorium.
Students in groups of three sang, tapped and beat their way through popular songs as they vied for the $200 grand prize that would go to the winner of the Guitar Hero band competition.
“This school loves Guitar Hero,” said Kelnesha Smalls, Center Stage Committee chair.
A Battle of the Bands, with people playing real instruments, had been scheduled for Thursday evening, but the event was canceled due to lack of participation.
“Only two bands signed up,” Smalls said.
But the turnout was good for the first Guitar Hero competition held at the University of West Florida. A total of 12 “bands” performed, and a decent number of people came out to watch.
Smalls said that Center Stage had intended to give out the Guitar Hero complete band kit to the winners of the Battle of the Bands, but since so few signed up the committee decided to use the equipment to host a different kind of “Battle of the Bands.”
Chase Griffin, Samir Ibrahim and Manny Ortiz, who went by the band name “Snakes on a Plane,” won after skillfully completing a performance of Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done.”
The trio took the stage and wowed the audience with their antics, which included the lead singer donning an afro wig and the guitarist running around the stage and encouraging the audience to clap to the beat.
Ortiz, who was on drums, said that he hadn’t even planned on performing.
“They went, ‘we want you,’ and I said, ‘OK,’” he said.
In a Gong show-like style, five of the 12 “bands” to take the stage sadly ended up with the word “fail” plastered behind them on the projection screen because they were unable to keep up with the medium level of the game.
What some groups, like the third group to perform who attempted a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” lacked in skill, they made up for in stage performance by dancing and engaging the audience.
For those who lost, or for anyone who’d want to compete, there might be another chance to come back and try again next semester.
Smalls said that it would be up to the next committee chair to decide if he or she would want to do another Guitar Hero competition.
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