Ohio University's Phi Kappa Psi hosted a Battle of the Bands show on Wednesday night to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.
No lecture was held in Walter Hall on Veterans Day, but lessons were given in musicianship and performance.
Phi Kappa Psi hosted a Battle of the Bands featuring five bands, with all proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project.
The acoustic environment in the Walter Hall Rotunda was quite a change of pace for the acts, most of which were accustomed to playing in bars and coffee shops — “certainly nothing with a high domed ceiling,” John Nespeca, a freshman studying business who is also pledging Phi Beta Kappa, said.
The first band of the evening, Wholehearted Halfwits, used the spacey acoustic environment to its advantage with its blend of new age, electrified blues and the psychedelic guitar solos from lead Zack Shafer.
“We feature a mix of blues rock and indie too,” Shafer said. “We like to keep people on their toes. … I love Jimi Hendrix and can’t resist putting that influence into our songs.”
The band is comprised of three locals who said they hadn’t been inside the rotunda since their high school dance.
Between sets, emcee Jeremy Weinreich entertained the audience with musical trivia and even a xylophone solo. The trivia got off to a shaky start as no one in attendance knew Notorious B.I.G.’s birth name offhand. After prolonged silence, Weinreich encouraged the audience to “just look it up” on their phones. From that point on, every intermission became a contest of the fastest fingers.
Next on stage was Rob and Lex, an acoustic duo that would be more expected at a coffee shop than at a battle of the bands. However they proved to earn their spot as they livened up the crowd with covers of Asher Roth’s “I Love College” and Billy Joel’s "Piano Man," complete with a harmonica.
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After the next round of trivia, which came with the reward of candy cigarettes, was Smizmar — a reference to Futurama. Before the first note was even played, singer Noah Allen set the tone by bringing the audience up to the stage, telling them “I’m gonna get sweaty, and so are you. It’s gonna be fun.”
Meghan Graham, an undecided freshman, described Smizmar as “less passionate grunge — not as in your face with the whole anger thing.”
The next band, The Boot Bandits, is recognizable to anyone who frequents Open Stage Nights at Casa Nueva.
With a rhythm acoustic, lead electric, bassist, and drum box, it was hard to focus on the band’s sound. It became even more difficult after The Boot Bandits added a female vocalist for its covers of Fleetwood Mac's “The Chain” and its final song The Band's "The Weight"— a bold set choice considering the highly distorted and energetic tone of the evening.
Cincinnati-based Static Wonder ended the evening with the first “traditional” lineup — drummer, lead, rhythm and vocals, and a bassist — of the night that made the rotunda feel more like a stadium concert with its considerably louder sound and stage presence.
The audience moshed to its cover of Blink-182’s “All the Small Things,” but Static Wonder’s rendition of Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Goin Down” threw the audience into a frenzy. What was earlier a small confinement of moshers turned into an entire pit of attendees throwing their limbs about.
The moshing paid off as Static Wonder took home the first place prize of a $350 recording session at 3 Elliott Studio.
The night also found success in its fundraising.
“Together with admission and (Phi) Beta Kappa’s T-shirt sales … we have raised over $1,000 so far,” Stephen Lichtenfels, Phi Kappa Psi president, said at the end of the show.
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