The Rotunda

Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Oktoberfest 2008 Review

Media Credit: Chelsea Place

Media Credit: Chelsea Place

By Courtney Jones
Rotunda Reporter

Longwood Battle of the Bands 2008 was the event that officially kicked off the music portion of Oktoberfest. Battle of the Bands began Friday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. behind Lankford Student Union. The event was sponsored by WMLU and featured bands such as 5 Second Rule, Dream Atlantic, Jackie Stem, The Methods and Hell City Sinners.

A Christian rock quintet based in Farmville, 5 Second Rule is a group made up of Longwood student Bruce Willke, as well as Jake Allen, Longwood alumnus Karl Willke, and Jon Mills. Bruce Willke plays lead guitar and vocals; Karl Willke plays bass guitar, rhythm guitar, and backing vocals; Allen plays drums and Mills does auxiliary percussion. The band currently has only one Web site they can be contacted or viewed through, which is www.fivesecondrulemusic.com.

Dream Atlantic is a rock quartet based in Chesterfield, Va. The band consists of Jesse Huckins on rhythm guitar, Matthew Seay on lead guitar, Dan Uphoff on drums and Brandon Willard on bass. They are currently looking for a lead singer who is between the ages of 18 and 25 lives near Chesterfield, where the band practices. The band played three demo songs that they have put together, and it was very obvious that these boys like to scream. A lot. Listeners were encouraged to go to Dream Atlantic's purevolume page, www.purevolume.com/dreamatlanticva.

Jackie Stem followed, showing the awaiting crowd her unique blend of alternative acoustic folk music. Stem is a 20-year-old music major at Longwood who is originally from Fairfax, Va. Stem performed songs from her recent record debut, "Stream of Consciousness," such as "Lullaby" and "Everything." Her CD is available for purchase from cdbaby.com. Fellow music major Bryan Axson said," She has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard." Her voice was a refreshing change from all the rock acts, and her voice definitely stood out. Stem won the Battle of the Bands 2008 competition.

The Methods are an alternative pop punk band made up of four Longwood students who are all from Northern Virginia. The quartet consists of Kendall Gerrish on vocals and rhythm guitar, Andy Grimm on lead guitar, Brian Baker on bass, and Sam Peck on drums. This past summer the band recorded their debut, "The Ben EP." They played songs such as "Love to Hate You" and "Not So Bad" for the crowd. The Methods also played a cover of Blink 182's "Dammit" which was received with huge cheers and everyone in the audience singing along. The band took second place in the competition. The band has T-shirts for sale through their Facebook page.
Hell City Sinners, formerly known as Cap Gun Standoff, are a satanic hardcore band hailing from Appomattox, Va. The trio consists of Samicidal on guitar and vocals, Max on stand-up bass and vocals, and The Kid on drums and vocals. They played songs such as "Bloodlust" and "Coldhearted." The band is heavily influenced by the hardcore scene and practically bleeds anything that has to do with death or the colors red and black. Hell City Sinners are not touring currently, but they regularly update their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/HellCitySinners.
WMLU provided music in between each act and kept the crowd pumped up and having a good time. Stem, as the winner of Battle of the Bands 2008, received the $500 top prize and a spot at Bandfest 2008 in the spring, which many are already looking forward to that. Overall, Battle of the Bands 2008 was a success, and the crowd turnout was impressive for a college of Longwood's size.

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