When it comes to mixing car racing and music, the first image that comes to mind might be shirtless, sunburned drunkards crooning along to Randy Travis in the infield of the Indy 500. But when U.Va. Motorsports presents Battle of the Bands at Trax Nightclub on Saturday, a new marriage of cars and music comes to Charlottesville.
U.Va. Motorsports, which started about three years ago, is part of the Intercollegiate Auto Racing Association, a sanction series with four other teams.
Like most other University organizations, U.Va. Motorsports is almost entirely student-run. Members of the team assemble and repair their Legends Cars themselves. Likewise, U.Va. Motorsports is responsible for its own fundraising. The team members have participated in car shows in the past, showing off the 1930s-style Chevy coupes they race. Last year, they inaugurated the Battle of the Bands in order to plump up the coffers.
"We figured we'd get some pretty well-known bands, have them play, get them some prize and have people pay to get in," said Mark O'Brien, a second-year College student and publicity manager for the organization.
The plan was simple yet effective. More than 250 people attended last year. Most of the proceeds went to purchasing additional car parts.
O'Brien has even bigger hopes for this year's competition: "This year we're expecting a little more, mainly because we have some more well-known bands," he said.
Those bands include last year's champion, Wisher (then known as The Parasols), and Copper Sails, which has gained a reputation by playing various University functions such as dances or fraternity parties. Vandyke Brown, Steel Pterodactyl and fatBLUE, while lesser known in the Charlottesville area, will get a chance to introduce themselves and garner a new audience.
|
Last year, the winning band was determined by two judges. This year, something new is in the works, possibly involving audience participation.
"Of all things, [deciding how to judge] has been the hardest," O'Brien admitted. This year's winner-take-all prizes are appearances on two local radio shows on WNRN 91.9 and WWWV 97.5 and a gift certificate to a local Hampton Inn. Being the winning band is only the icing on the cake for the participants, however.
"We like to be in events like this, not only to help with a fundraiser, but also to meet other regional bands that we wouldn't normally get a chance to play with because of their different scene and sound," said Boomer Muth, Copper Sails' singer and bassist. He's right, too - Battle of the Bands will see groups hailing from as far as West Virginia (Steel Pterodactyl) and sharing different musical roots from the rapid, funky rhythms of fatBLUE to the alternative rock of Wisher.
"We have no battle plan really," Muth said. "We just simply go on stage, play our best original material and have a great time. We aren't playing in the event in order to win as much as we are to be seen by new people who would not normally come to see a band with our sound."
Brian Chenault, lead guitarist for Wisher, shares Muth's sentiments. "This Saturday is a fabulous opportunity to see some regional up-and-coming bands for next to nothing," Chenault said. "I'd expect a much more interesting show than last year even with several repeat bands, including ourselves. We were relatively wet behind the ears this time last year, and we've since put a lot of shows and a record under our belt."
With an eclectic mix of bands aimed to hit the stage on Saturday night, this year's Battle of the Bands promises to be a winning combination for the participants, the audience and U.Va. Motorsports.
U.Va. Motorsports presents Battle of the Bands at Trax Nightclub this Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets are available in advance for $6 from Plan 9, Mincer's and Trax. Tickets also will be available on Friday at a table in front of Thornton Hall. U.Va. Motorsports also will gladly accept donations to further bolster fundraising efforts.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
