“And the winner is...,” Riley Spitznagel, Bloomington Delta Music Club co-president, said into the microphone as a drumroll sounded from behind her. Four bands had just finished competing Saturday in Maxwell Hall for BDMC’s second annual Battle of the Bands. Now, it was time to announce the winner. The anticipation built as the drumroll continued. Spitznagel finally yelled out a name: the Raging Ragoons.
The battle was a chance for BDMC members to compete for the headlining spot at the club's next showcase that they hope to put on at the beginning of next semester. The winners, Raging Ragoons, also got to sign a pink guitar that will be signed by next year's winners and passed down through BDMC.
The members of the bands this year, similar to last year's battle, were randomly assigned, giving club members the opportunity to play with new people. This aspect of last year's battle gave way to the creation of new bands, including Always Late.
After their winning performance at last year's Battle of the Bands, Always Late decided to continue playing together. Due to some members graduating and moving on, they continued to add new members until they finally had a full band this semester.
The all-girl band, consisting of lead singers Lily Macey and Sophia Stephens, guitarists Leila Thompson and Ella Cuttica, bass player Rita Haas, drummer Lauren Raiss and keyboardist Maria Kincaid, plays classic rock covers and takes inspiration from other all-female or female lead groups. One of the bands they pull inspiration from is Heart, a female-lead band which they crafted a medley from.
“We want to play like five different Heart songs, but we can’t,” Haas said during one of their practices.
Since doing this would take too much time in a set list, they shot ideas back and forth during their practice on how to transition from one song to another.
Practicing one to two times a week, the members of Always Late have grown a tight bond, having many memories together as a band. From discussing missing keyboards to potential rap names, each practice seems to bring new memories, as well.
Although they weren't able to play as their full band at this year's battle, many members still participated. Lead singers Macey and Stephens, along with guitar player Cuttica, were paired in a band together which they called "The Huh?" Guitar player Thompson also participated in the battle and played the winning band, Raging Ragoons.
The Huh? played classic rock covers from AC/DC to the Beatles as part of their 20-minute set which was lively and got the crowd going. They were the third band to play after “I am Kamala Harris and you are Barack Obama” and “The bassless accusations because we have no bass.”
After The Huh? played, Thompson’s group performed a mix of pop and rock. Their set concluded with “Brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo.
Although Thompson is in her own band, Always Late, playing with other people gave her the opportunity to meet different members of BDMC who she played with in the Raging Ragoons.
Each performing band, including the Raging Ragoons, was finalized on Nov. 3, and most were only able to practice their 20-minute sets once or twice before the battle.
“Yeah, I think we all kind of clicked and we all had the same motivation and everything,” Sophia Perry, the group's vocalist, said.
With Saturday night’s battle being only their second time meeting each other, it went better than expected, which was confirmed to them after co-president Spitznagel announced them to be the winners of the battle.
“You guys did so so good, the votes were super close, but we do have to pick a winner,” Spitznagel said to the eager crowd.
After announcing Raging Ragoons to be the winners, the band jumped up and cheered from their seats on the floor and Thompson and Perry, along with other band members Fatima Medina and Poppy Smith, went to the front to accept their award of signing the pink guitar.
"I haven't played in a year and a half, so I feel like this was a good way to get back in it," Medina, the group's bass player, said. "I was actually really scared because I hadn't played in a while. I wanted to play last year but I was too scared, so I just three myself in it this year."
Although the group had just met for the Battle of the Bands, they all expressed their gratitude for BDMC and how the club brings people with similar interests together. While some might think the music scene is intimidating, they said BDMC is a group that helps bring people together even through the intimidation of being new to a large campus.
“I feel like sometimes when you first get to college, it can be kind of scary to find a group and everything,” Perry said. “But this group is so big and it’s so welcoming and it's so easy to meet new people.”
Editor's note: Enterprise editor Jonathan Frey competed in the Battle of the Bands. He was not involved in the reporting, writing or editing of this story.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of a band name.
