On Veteran’s Day, students continued to honor those that have served in the United States Armed Forces with musical performances and free food in the Markee Pioneer Student Center at the Battle of the Bands.

There were around 100 people in attendance at the start of the show. Unfortunately, technical difficulties limited the performance time for each band. After an hour, with approximately 50 people remaining in the audience, CPR fixed the monitor problem and Battle of the Bands was able to begin.

The audience was asked to vote for their favorite band as they performed by retweeting on CPR’s twitter account. Every retweet was a point towards a band. Whichever band received the most retweets at the end of the show won the Battle of the Bands.

The first band up was The Curls. Unfortunately only half of the band was able to participate. Jenny McLean, senior Spanish major, handled the pressure perfectly as she started the show with her rendition of Riptide by Vance Joy.  She mixed in some original songs, one titled Crutch.

“It’ll be pretty 90’s,” McLean said as she introduced a crowd pleaser called “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC.

Shoulda Took the Stairs took the stage next. They kept the 90’s vibe going by starting off their set with “Semi Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind. They continued their set with “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift.

They made it their own by adding a break down within the bridge of the song. They continued with their rendition of “Classic” by MKTO and ended their set with a crowd favorite “Teacher’s Pet” by School of Rock.

“We’re the hottest thing since summer,” drummer, senior accounting major, Simon Bognar said.

Untamed was the final band that performed in Battle of the Bands. The band has a solid rock sound and stage presence.  Their background includes playing for charity events at local bars and at the Rave in Milwaukee with the Offspring. They began their set with a few original songs.

Untamed invited the other bands to come up and play with them during the middle of their set. They played “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and “Stand By Me,” originally sung by Ben E. King.  After including other performers on stage to perform two songs with them, Untamed returned to their set list with their originals for the rest of the performance.

“Battle of the Bands was really fun. I really enjoyed when the bands put their own twist to popular songs,” Chelsea Frances, senior elementary education major, said.

Shoulda Took the Stairs won the Battle of the Bands with a total of 18 retweets. Untamed received nine retweets, and The Curls received four.