This article originally appeared in the February 27, 2008 issue of The Spectator

The force was with The Revelators in this Band War.

Amidst light-sabers and Darth Vader masks, The Revelators rocked its way to a first place finish Friday night against a very competitive lineup of musicians.

This year’s Battle of the Bands, themed after the “Star Wars” movies, had eight student bands battling for a good crowd reaction and a high score from the judges who would later determine who got the grand prize: a $500 Guitar Center gift card. No two bands sounded alike, and the diversity of the battle’s acts–electronic, country, and surf among others, kept the crowd interested and the energy high for the entire show.

“I was blown away by the amount of talent,” said sophomore environmental studies major Katie Boehnlein about the show. “But I’m happy The Revelators won, they were definitely the best.”

The Revelators, sophomores Paul Goode and Steve Allen, is a blues-rock band whose only two shows have been on this stage in the Campion Ballroom – this year and last’s Battle of the Bands. Their fast paced, guitar driven rock music had the crowd in a frenzy of screaming, dancing and head-banging for the duration of their three song, 10 minute set.

“We got a really good reaction, it surprised me,” said Allen. “I was kind of worried that our kind of music wouldn’t get people as in to it as it did,” added Goode. “I was really happy.”

As it turned out, their “garage rock, punk, blues” style ended up being just what the audience wanted, and obviously what the judges liked the best.

Another crowd favorite was 2nd place finisher The Bottlenose Koffins, a surf guitar group who came out wearing matching blue suits and fake mustaches. Their guitar riffs and fast drums also had the audience dancing, and they looked like they were having just as much fun on stage.

“We like to party,” said junior Nick Kirchner, a guitarist for the Koffins.

Even bands that didn’t place played well and got good reactions from the crowd. Closing act The Nude, a band created especially for the battle, got the most screams and shouts of the night when they first came out shirtless and later tore off their tear-away pants to finish their set with a cover of Nelly’s “Ride With Me” wearing only Speedos.

“I think we should have won,” said sophomore Ian Hogan, a guitarist in the band The Nude. “We had the best crowd response. They loved us.”

With so many talented bands competing, it came down in the end to the three judges: Tim Wilson, Justin Klump and Abbey Still, who picked their favorite based on several factors including musical talent and audience reaction.

A few bands will be back next year for another shot at the first place prize.

“We could maybe tighten some things up [for next year],” said sophomore Andrew Fontana, vocalist and guitarist from the band Sweet Miss. “We hadn’t practiced in a year before a week ago.”