Written by Administrator

 On Friday, February 5, 2010, seven different acts performed in front of their peers to gain approval from not only the judging panel but the audience as well. This year was different because of the new text-in-your-vote system. The audience could text a number corresponding to the name of the band they thought performed best, much like an American Idol format. This year was also unique due to a rule change of allowing one outside member to participate in a band. The only band to utilize this privilege was Signs Unshaken, who brought in frontman and screamer Josh Austin.

The night began with the mind-blowing performance of the freshmen group W.I.S.H., comprised of bassist and frontman Soren Iverson, guitarists Drew Wilbur and Andrew "Smitty" Smit, and drummer Josh Hildenbrand. Then the senior group New Delinquent Aristocracy came in and put on a memorable show (shoutout to all the Unicorn Song lovers!) with Tina Kiemel on some crazy good vocals, Kylee Smit on bass, and Andrea Schnieder on the keys and Stephanie West as the ordained clapper. Third up was the insanely good guitar shredding skills of  junior Cody Rinn. Next entered the duo, The Critics, comprised of juniors Grant Chapman and Micki Cockrille on guitars who did quite an outstanding job. Next the band Signs Unshaken came on the stage and rocked everybody's faces to the ground (just picture it....yeah) with seniors Alex Beaton and Alex Riehl on guitars and Gabe Northway on drums. The band changed lead vocals after two songs from screamer Josh Austin to sophomore Kayla Nelson who blew the crowd away by hitting such high octaves that no one knew existed until that night. Next were the very much accomplished acoustic duo of Nick Seifert and Kristoff Warbritton who, besides W.I.S.H., did two songs of their very own. Then last up was the band Kicking Scissors. They took the misfortune of technical difficulties and turned it into a very hilarious plus, using their wit and charm. This band was comprised of freshman Chloe Stewart tearing up the keys, junior Nick "The Mayor" Mayer on guitar, and seniors Naz Rush on the funnies and vocals, Patrick Leedom on the drums, and leadman Jordan Nicholson on bass.

All these bands performed amazingly. The judges decided to hand over their support to the band Signs Unshaken and the fans chose Kicking Scissors. Congrats to these two bands for their tremendous performances! Next year promises to be another amazing show with the hopeful return of the underclassman and soon-to-be seniors along with the incoming freshmen who no doubt will show their stuff just as this year's group did. Many thanks to Jeremy Shirley, who produced the whole deal and to the sound team for helping add to the experience with lights, fog, and all the works. Hope to see you at Battle of the Bands 2011.