On Oct. 23, Blue Hawk Records, student-run record label, collaborated with the Office of Student Engagement and the Greek Senate to present a battle for the ages – no violence, though.
Rocktober, a new event spearheaded by The Music Alliance (TMA) President Samantha Spano and other Blue Hawk members, is a way for students to collaborate and create bands that compete for a spot at a future MU showcase, a cape and crown, and of course, bragging rights over their peers. After auditioning in front of other Blue Hawk students, four bands were selected to compete in front of a live audience for the coveted prize. The event uniquely utilized audience participation in its format, requiring the audience of friends, students, alumni, and family to vote in real-time for who would proceed to the next round.
Each audience member was asked to donate to the Backline Foundation for their admission fee. The Backline Foundation “connects music industry professionals and their families with mental health and wellness resources,” as stated on their social media. According to Spano, the event raised $422 in cash for the Backline Foundation, a monumental success for Blue Hawk Records and Backline.
Corine Rose, the first band of the evening, opened the show with their “Drunk and I Don’t Wanna Go Home” performance by Elle King and Miranda Lambert. The band meshed well and had fantastic backing vocals, which inspired the audience to clap along with them. After them was Paradigm, a hard rock/metal band made up of students new to Monmouth. The lead singer walked out with a cloak on, proving this would be a unique performance. Their performance of “Duality” by Slipknot was extremely heavy and tight, clearly showing every musician’s talent and charisma. After an incredibly close voting process, Paradigm was voted off, allowing Corine Rose to move to the finals.
In the second round, The Peach Trees, in their live first performance ever, performed “Check Yes, Juliet” by We The Kings. Their vocals were especially impressive, and the band had a lot of fun on stage, engaging the audience to clap along. After them was The Hifis, a band whose members live in 4 different states. They opened with “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, an obvious crowd-pleaser that had everyone standing and dancing in the aisles. In the end, the crowd voted The Hifis as the winners of the round, and we said goodbye to The Peach Trees.
The finals saw a costume change for the two winning bands, the singer of The Hifis now sporting a cowboy hat, and the two singers of Corine Rose wearing matching black ensembles. The Hifis opened the finals with a dynamic performance of “Monkey Wrench” by Foo Fighters, even leaving in a part for the band to introduce themselves. The song ended with a ripping solo by drummer Mike Kazigian and each string player coaxing feedback from their amp, a scene reminiscent of an early performance by The Who.
Finally, to close the show, Corine Rose took to the stage to perform “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon. They had the entire audience participate by lighting the room with phone cameras and waving back and forth, an idea that had many audience members grinning ear to ear by the end. Guitarist Evan Schuett delivered an impressive solo that helped the band secure an impressive turnout.
In the end, after another extremely close voting round, Corine Rose was crowned the winner of the first annual Rocktober event. The band celebrated on stage with all the other performers, who were equally happy to have participated in the event. Overall, a great night was had by all. Music was shared, many got to dance, and even a few were singing along in their seats.
