Updated March 1 at 1:11 p.m.
Dance Marathon announced Thursday night that Nebula won the annual Battle of the Bands. The band will perform during NUDM 2013 Block 8 next weekend.
Battle of the Bands took place at Nevin's Pub on Thursday night, with less than two weeks until NUDM. The admission fee of $5 will go towards this year's beneficiary, the Danny Did Foundation, an organization dedicated to its mission of preventing deaths caused by seizures.
Bands interested in battling were required to submit a $15 registration fee and CD with their work by Feb. 18 to the DM office. Only one song was required for bands while DJs were allowed to submit up to a 10-minute set.
The night started off with Almost All-Purpose, consisting of Ray Stuart on vocals, David “Tubes” Tuber jumping between the keys, guitar and vocals, Celesta Mora on bass, Will Lassman on guitar and Ben Foster on drums. They played fun, dancey rock music, and even threw in at the end a rendition of the Lonely Island jam “I Just Had Sex.” This was after a mix of covers and some original tunes like “Stupid," which became a crowd sing-along.
Then came the three-piece Nebula: Evan Bakker, Jake Besen and Stuart Babcock playing indie rock with on bass, guitar, and drums. Guitarist and lead singer Bakker is a senior philosophy major with a knack for short, impressive guitar solos. The band recently released their first proper single: “We Are Not Complete”. The audience dug Nebula's well-crafted rock tunes.
Next Ric Cross took a the stage and eased the crowd into funky R&B renditions. A highlight of the night came during their groovy rendition of Alicia Keys' hit “If I Ain't Got You”, with most the audience belting out the chorus along with the band. The group transitioned smoothly between songs with extended breakdowns from Parsons on the keys and Jordy on bass. They also played a stunning cover of Frank Ocean's “Sweet Life”.
Finally, Change Of Heart shredded the night to a close. Featuring Peter Kim on guitar and lead vocals, Matt Morrow on guitar, Nick Dotzenrod on bass and Tommy Carroll on the drum kit, the band riled up the crowd with songs like “Revolution." Their fiery brand of metal included Morrow's showy finger-tapping solos, powerful fills from both Dotzenrod and Carroll. Kim had huge stage presence fronting the band and even as the night wound down, the audience jumped around and cheered “One more song!”, to which Change of Heart happily agreed.
Ultimately, Nebula was crowned winner of the DM Battles of the Bands 2013 and have been rewarded with a set at Dance Marathon next weekend.
Gabe Bergado contributed reporting.