The local band, Duff, beat out five other bands last night for the chance to perform at Dance Marathon ’03.
“Dance Marathon decided to have a battle of the bands so the community and the students could pick which band they wanted to hear [at Dance Marathon],” Lindsay White of the Dance Marathon entertainment committee said.
Twist of Nothing, Liberty HI, Duff, Exiate, Bandwidth Flux and Atwood rocked for approximately 20 minutes each at Dance Marathon’s Battle of the Bands in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The bands, all from the Bowling Green area, competed for the grand prize of playing at Dance Marathon for 45 minutes. Sol-Rise, a band that is already playing at Dance Marathon, also performed as the feature band of the night.
“It was a lot of fun to play and it was also for a good cause,” Greg Barth, bassist of Twist of Nothing, said of the band’s decision to participate in the event.
Nearly 300 students attended the event.
Throughout the night, members of the audience voted for the winning band. The votes were totaled during the final performance of the night, Sol-Rise. The audience voted Duff as their favorite.
Duff is made up of Jake Medley (lead vocalist), T.J. Patton (bassist and backup vocalist), Matt Jones (drummer) and Travis Weber (lead guitarist). The band has been playing together for two years.
“We love to play, and it’s going toward a good cause,” Medley said.
The band plans on playing a set containing covers and original songs at Dance Marathon. “We hope to see everyone at Dance Marathon,” Patton said, emphasizing the band’s enthusiasm for playing at the upcoming event.
Proceeds from the $30 entrance fee of the bands and the $3 admission cost for students will benefit the Children’s Miracle Network through Dance Marathon. The money raised will be used to help children in the Northwest Ohio area.
An auction with items such as a faculty parking pass (selling for $200) and a football signed by BGSU team members (selling for $125) was also held to benefit the charity. By the end of the night, a total of about $2000 was raised.
“It was an absolute success,” White said. “We will definitely do it again next year.”
