Battle of the Bands, which takes place at 8 p.m. today in the Great Hall of the Student Union, pits band against fellow band in a race not only against each other, but against the clock.
"It's a fast-paced, high-energy performance," said Maneesha Agarwal, co-treasurer of the Campus Y, which is sponsoring the event along with the Carolina Athletic Association. "Each band gets 20 minutes onstage -- that includes walking on, plugging in their instruments, playing and getting everything offstage," she said.
Battle of the Bands will be in place of this year's Homecoming concert, which CAA officials could not arrange because of scheduling problems.
The proceeds of Battle of the Bands, a part of this year's Homecoming festivities, will go to the Campus Y, which counts the event as its major annual fund-raiser.
Seven local bands will try to master the rigorous structure of the event -- Vibrant Green, Flux, Guns Go BANG, Eyes to Space, Spencer Acuff, the B-Sides and Let Down.
The bands' styles are primarily rock, according to Agarwal, but range from the self-described folk rock of Spencer Acuff to the keyboard rock of Eyes to Space.
"It's a great opportunity for anyone who's looking to find out more about the local music scene," Agarwal said.
To keep the audience entertained, four additional featured groups will perform while the bands are switching sets, Maneesha said -- Kamikazi, Bhangra Elite, Achordants and Loreleis.
To the victorious band go many spoils, in addition to the requisite local bragging rights. The top three bands will choose between prizes like a package of gift certificates to local music stores and five lower-level tickets to the UNC-Davidson basketball game.
