WCUA Radio Station Hosts Battle of the Bands

Image Courtesy of Anthony Curioso

By Anthony Curioso

The student-run radio station WCUA hosted its first-ever Battle of the Bands event on November 20 at 7 p.m. in Great Rooms A and B at the Pryzbyla Center. WCUA vice president Goodness Odagbodo, a senior, emceed the event.

Students had the opportunity to form groups to perform at the Battle of the Bands or to participate as soloists. The first performance of the evening was by the “Flying Cardinals,” the newly-formed jazz ensemble directed by Dr. Christopher Pearlberg, Director of Athletic Bands and conductor of the CUA Pep Band. The “Flying Cardinals” setlist included an arrangement of the classic Christmas carol “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” as well as two pieces from the standard jazz band repertoire, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “A String of Pearls.”

Following the “Flying Cardinals,” the a cappella ensemble Take Note performed a set which included their oft-performed arrangements of “Ocean Eyes” by Billie Eilish and “erase me” by Lizzie McAlpine and Jacob Collier.

The Battle of the Bands also featured a performance by a smaller group of students who had come together specifically to compete. This group, which called themselves “Drummer Wanted,” consisted of sophomore philosophy major Riley Winston, junior philosophy major Kathryn Beyer, and freshman theology and philosophy major Julian Jayke Garza, who performed “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors and “Something in the Orange” by Zach Bryan. “Drummer Wanted” featured Garza on vocals and guitar, Winston on bass, and Beyer on piano, vocals, and harmonica.

Additionally, there were several solo performances. These included freshman politics major and music minor Liam Corrigan, who sang “Falling” by Harry Styles with the accompaniment track playing, which garnered an enormous applause from the audience. He also sang “Daughters” by John Meyer, playing a guitar to accompany the song. 

Other soloists competing in the Battle of the Bands included sophomore philosophy major Tia Santicola Jones, who played guitar and sang an unreleased original song titled “Watcher.” Additionally, Jeffrey “Charlie Delta” Dougherty, a freshman psychology major, performed two songs on vocals and guitar, including an original piece that he claimed had earned him his nickname from a former mentor who had passed away earlier that morning.

Following an audience vote, Corrigan emerged as the runner-up, while the group “Drummer Wanted” emerged victorious.

After the victory, Garza commented on the origins of “Drummer Wanted” and the group’s next steps.

“We all have a lot of classes together by virtue of us all being philosophy majors, and we all discovered we play music and have similar music tastes,” Garza said. “After this win, we can go into the Thanksgiving break and enjoy it.”

Given the sizable turnout and raucous crowd reactions to the performances, one can only hope that the Battle of the Bands will become a regular WCUA event.