Medieval Mayhem flaunted diverse student bands

Melodic prog-rock outfit The Monostereo jammed their way to first place in SEAC's annual Battle of the Bands Thursday, winning the ears of the crowd as well as a headlining show at Neumos and eight hours of recording studio time.


"We're all very excited," said Rich Clark-Coller, drummer and junior business management major. "We worked very hard since last year, and we feel like a million bucks."


The annual event featured six student bands playing 15-minute sets competing for scores from five judges and had the newly remodeled Campion Ballroom decked out to look like a medieval castle.

Although the turnout was noticeably sparser than previous years due to the event being on a weeknight, junior civil engineering major and SEAC Battle of the Bands chair John Conway said the event was a big success.


"For being a Thursday and for being six bands, this was more than what I could ask for," Conway said. "The people who came thoroughly enjoyed it."


Two other bands won prizes: second place went to Conduct Party, a Brit-pop inspired foursome who stood out with a trumpeter in their line-up and a microphone filter engineered out of an analog telephone, and third place went to Big Oil, a self-proclaimed "indie rock jam band." Prizes for the runners-up were a performance at a KeyArena men's basketball game as well as recording studio time.


Even with only six bands this year's lineup was more diverse than it had been in years past. The bands ran the gamut from folk and traditional indie to more experimental prog-rock, surf guitar and even electro-pop. Sketch Echo, who didn't place despite being a crowd favorite, was noted as the only group who didn't have a guitar—just sophomore philosophy major Clinton Carl, big beats and wonderful backup dancers.


"One of my main themes is technology and pop music," Carl said. In addition to the music, SEAC added several other elements to the show this year, including a "Rock Band" station and live interviews with the judges during the breaks between bands.


"We tried to implement some things this year that made it more interactive," Conway said. "In the years to come, we've got a lot of things to work on to make this thing a big event in winter quarter, and I'm really excited about it."

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