Virtual Battle of the Bands (Courtesy of Program Council)
Usually Battle of the Bands is a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled night. Musicians are fighting tooth and nail to win the hearts of fans and the title of “Best Band.”
This year, however, due to COVID-19 restrictions, Battle of the Bands will be a slow-paced, virtual event without a live audience.
Program Council will be hosting a virtual Battle of the Bands for the Boulder community on Instagram. The submission deadline for competitors is March 5 and voting will end March 12. Though the virtual battle will be less action-packed, Program Council still hopes to engage with the wider Boulder community and offer local musicians a chance to promote their music and win prizes.
“It’s a really exciting way to engage with the community, especially when we haven’t been able to for so long,” said Amy Karp, the director of Program Council.
Since the pandemic began, Program Council has struggled to stay connected with CU Boulder students without in-person live events. In 2020, all of their on-campus concerts and their Friday Night Film Series in CHEM 140 were canceled.
However, recently they have been transitioning to remote and socially-distanced events, starting with rapper Lil Yachty’s livestream, “The Joy of Painting,” last November and the revival of their film series with a reduced in-person audience.
Their latest project, Battle of the Bands, aims to involve locals musicians and listeners from CU Boulder and beyond via social media. Jacquelyn Simms, Program Council’s Club 156 manager, hopes the battle will also provide local musicians with a platform to promote and share their music while Club 156 remains closed.
“We were trying to involve local artists in Boulder and create content that people could interact with,” Simms said. “It will be a great way for artists to get their music out to such a wide platform.”
Also, the top three bands will receive prizes, which will be provided by Bart’s Record Shop and three CU Boulder student organizations. The prizes will include a livestream concert in Club 156 promoted by Program Council, recording studio time, airtime on Radio 1190 and a profile in the CU Independent.
This year Simms and Karp think the competition will be tough. They have seen more engagement than any previous in-person Battle of the Bands and have been surprised by the quality and quantity of submissions so far.
“More people have signed up and engaged with this than (ever before),” Karp said. “This has been a really exciting revival.”
How to enter:
- The submission deadline is March 5, 2021.
- To participate, at least one member of the group must be a current CU Boulder student or a resident of Boulder.
- Fill out this Google form to sign up.
- Submit a recorded live performance of a solo/group act via a shared Dropbox link.
- Any genre or style is allowed.
- The time limit for videos is five minutes.
How to vote:
- The voting deadline is March 12, 2021.
- All participant’s videos will be posted to Program Council’s Instagram account as received.
- Anyone with an Instagram account can vote by liking the video. Each Instagram like will be counted as one vote.
- Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places based on the highest numbers of likes/votes.
Find out more about Program Council’s virtual Battle of the Bands on their Instagram account or website.
Contact CU Independent Arts Editor Izzy Fincher at Isabella.fincher@colorado.edu.
