Sweet sounds swept over the University of Kentucky campus Friday evening, but was there anyone to hear?
Patterns won the UK Battle of the Bands, taking Haggin Field with their tight 3-man alternative groove, but played their encore to a handful of people. Lack of promotion seemed to be the culprit.
“Promotion is more than just posting to a web site and getting in the (Lexington Herald-Leader’s) Weekender,” said Donald Mason, vocalist for Soul Funkin’ Dangerous. Though a story ran in UK’s Kentucky Kernel and the event appeared on the Student Activity Board’s calendar, no posters appeared on campus prior to the event.
The crowd for the Battle of the Bands numbered no more than 50 people at its peak. That number includes Student Activities Board volunteers and the bands themselves. With such a paucity of people, the band that brought the most supporters was bound to win, not to take anything away from Patterns.
The prize, $1000 of new music equipment, attracted fierce competion. Soul Funkin’ Dangerous led off the show with a Galactic cover before segueing into Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy and another Cee Lo cover, this one with the expletives cleverly changed to “Fox News”.
The Dirty Grindstones played a medley opened by the Grateful Dead’s ‘China Cat Sunflower’ before transitioning into a blues and noise-rock set.
“We’re here to make your ears tickle!” said bassist/vocatist of Aerial, who played a melange of grunge/punk.
The bottom half of the competition included 1-man electronic act Fleece, horn-heavy One Way Out, the thrash-metal quarter This Years Finest, and progressive Intersecting Horizons, who appeard as a power trio.
It was clear Friday that good music, free admission and free food was not enough to draw students to the Battle of the Bands. If the Student Activities Board is willing to put $1,000 on the line for this competition, they should also put in the leg work to promote it.