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Saturday, July 4, 2009
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Second time a charm for band BATTLE OF THE BANDS Staff Writer And the winner is - No Shirt, No Shoes, Knows Jesus.
This Brainerd band competed with 10 other bands Friday to win the "Battle of the Bands 2009 Energize" at Don Adamson Field.
The band won $300 and will be able to perform in the Fourth of July parade Saturday.
"We're so excited," Hans McCarthy, lead singer of the No Shirt, No Shoes, Knows Jesus, said after learning the band won. "Last year we took third place and this is our first anniversary of our band ... This is great."
Band members include McCarthy, Gabe McCarthy, Andrew Montpetit, Ian Wright and Josh Ellis.
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Rick Norquist and his band Imaginary Friends competed Friday at Battle of the Bands 2009 on Don Adamson Field.
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Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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The second place Battle of the Bands winner was Stoked Beyond Boredom of Brainerd that won $200 and third place went to A Friendly Guest, Brainerd, that won $100.
The Battle of the Bands is sponsored by Brainerd Community Action and Youth As Resources.
Other bands that competed were Michael Eberhardt with Silverline, Brainerd; Maybe Saints, Brainerd; The Imaginary Friends, Brainerd; Wandering, Pine River; For What It's Worth, Baxter; Patience, Bemidji; Lovely Nightmare, Brainerd; and Soulshine, Brainerd.
"Our goal is to play and get our name out there," said Mark Sands of For What It's Worth. "We've watched the Battle of the Bands before but we never performed."
The band has been together since October and Friday was its first debut. In the band with Sands, who will be a junior at Brainerd High School this fall, are Neil Vanderpoel and Mason Woodman, who willl be seniors this fall at BHS, Austin Weiser, who'll be a junior this fall at BHS, and Zach Cadwell is their roadie.
Sands said they enjoy getting the audience riled up. The band members said their most popular, fun song to perform is "Not Tonight."
For What It's Worth will play next at the Upper Room at Coco Moon on July 10.
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Kristen Anderson of Maybe Saints sang Friday during the 2009 Battle of the Bands in Brainerd.
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Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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The band, A Friendly Guest, consisted of BHS graduates: Nate Henningson, graduated in 2009 and Will Henningson, Ryan Finch and Andrew Brown, all graduated in 2008. The band officially got together this summer, but the group has played music together since eighth grade.
This was the band's first concert and when the band got off the stage they said, "It went pretty well" and "It looked like some people liked it." The band said one of their more popular songs is "You'll Never Get Out."
Amber LeDoux, a 2009 BHS graduate, and Randy Gibbs, who'll be a BHS senior this fall, watched the Battle of the Bands for awhile up on the bleachers. They were the only ones on the bleachers as most of the concert goers sat on lawn chairs or blankets or stood while listening to the bands perform their 30-minute piece each.
This was LeDoux and Gibbs second time attending the band competition. LeDoux said she works with two of the band members in Maybe Saints at Best Buy in Baxter.
Gibbs said, "I like to check out the variety of bands and see everybody's talent."
Alyssa Martin, 13, Brainerd, and Will Sweet, 15, East Gull Lake, watched the bands perform. The two said they're friends with members of For What It's Worth.
Sweet said, "They're pretty awesome."
Hannah and Mike Niles of Pillager have attended the Battle of the Bands for the past two years to support Mike Niles' brother, who plays in Soulshine, perform. The Nileses said they enjoy listening to the "good talent" at the competition. Niles said if Soulshine wins the competition he planned to attend the Brainerd parade to watch his brother perform. If the band lost, Niles said he wouldn't go to the parade.
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Isaac Nelson of Silverline rocked out Friday during the 2009 Battle of the Bands.
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Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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Kris and Chuck Jensen drove to Brainerd from Bemidji to watch their son, Erik Jensen, perform in his band called Patience.
"They've competed in Battle of the Bands for the past three years," said Kris Jensen. "They like to do it for the exposure and this is a well organized event. We like coming here.
"It's fun watching the kids play and to see the different quality of bands."
The judges of the event were Ryan Fellman and Koreann Martin, both BHS graduates, and J.P. Wesp. Fellman said the bands were judged on stage presence, music ability, lyrics, originality and overall sound.
Fellman said, "Some (bands) are harder than others to judge."
Cody Randall, a YAR board member who sold T-shirts at the event, said attendance was up compared to last year. Randall said the Battle of the Bands event is not just for the younger crowd, it's for everyone. He said the event is an opportunity for bands to get their name out, a fun event for families and it's a fundraiser for YAR.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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