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The Battle of the Bands semifinals were hosted in Civic Space Park on Feb. 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. The change of venue from the Tempe campus to the Downtown Phoenix campus gave participants an opportunity to engage with their ASU community in a new way.
79 degrees, an open park, good food and a wall of energetic sound — that night, ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus had it all and more.
“We were able to really bring together the downtown community to everything that downtown has to offer,” said Diego Lara, a senior studying international trade and the president of ASU’s Programming and Activities Board in downtown Phoenix.
READ MORE: Annual music competition bands with ASU men’s basketball to amplify attendance
The event offered attendees free boba, burgers and crêpes, along with a music trivia competition by Desert Financial. The winner got a Chromebook to take home.
Nine bands performed original songs and covers for 10 minutes each. Four bands were selected as winners to perform in the final, which will take place at the Change the World competition on March 19 in Mountain America Stadium.
The winning band gets to open at Devilpalooza, which may feature a well-known artist set to be announced early next week, according to Lara.
The longtime tradition serves as an opportunity for bands to perform for big crowds and get their names out there. Participating bands included South Bend Drive, ASHRiDGE, Twisted Överall, Right Rosemary, Four Missed Calls (formerly GTSD), The Possibles, Mellow Toad and Rural Roads.
“Four Missed Calls came up because when people don’t show up to rehearsal, we each call them,” said Jordyn Hitzeman, the lead singer of Four Missed Calls and a sophomore studying math and economics. “So you get four missed calls because they’re not answering, and they’re not showing up to rehearsals.”
Four Missed Calls describes their music as a combination of shoegaze music and post-hardcore, shifting toward more punk sounds.
The event also featured similar bands with indie and rock sounds, like ASHRiDGE, a the-Garden adjacent foursome with punchy bass and beachy electric guitar illuminated by heavy reverb. The band Rural Roads followed a similar bass-heavy style of indie rock with their cover of Bill Withers’ “Use Me.”
Mellow Toad carried chill, brassy tones and a jazzy piano, a chill melodic experience where the band’s voices were just another instrument. Some might have heard variations of indie rock, but Max Bennette, a member of the band, described it as “ADHD in music form.”
Right Rosemary is a self-described art rock band who treasures the elusive experience of a college crowd.
“Sometimes we have those moments of vulnerability, and then we can have those moments where everyone can crowd in and jam out,” said Jules Valerie, lead singer of Right Rosemary and a senior studying music learning and teaching and popular music.
About 17 bands registered to be featured in the competition, via PAB’s Instagram page, nine of which performed in the semifinals.
The winners were decided by a 50-50 voting process by the audience and judges. The four bands selected to perform at Change the World were ASHRiDGE, Right Rosemary, South Bend Drive and Mellow Toad.
The participating bands were able to foster true connections with the downtown Phoenix community, along with students from other campuses and people outside ASU.
“As long as people bring the energy and they’re looking for a story, we’ve got a story to tell,” Valerie said.
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Alysa Horton and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporters at ktale@asu.edu and ebmosier@asu.edu and follow @KasturiTale and @eleribmosier on X.
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Kasturi TaleThe Echo Reporter
Kasturi is a sophomore studying journalism. This is her third semester with The State Press. She has her own blog and has worked in creative writing.
Eleri MosierThe Echo Reporter
Eleri is a senior studying interdisciplinary studies, english and sociology. This is her third semester with The State Press. She has also worked in retail.
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