PHYLLIS T. CUPP
Lampoonist
After the cancellation of FREDFest last year, many things have changed. Most notably, fewer propane tanks are flung through LoGrasso windows, fewer students are peeing in water fountains, and Fredonia students participate in less general tomfoolery.
Another thing that has changed is the prize for winning Battle of the New Bands. Before, the winner received the chance to perform at the FREDFest activities during the first weekend of May with notable headliners, including HelloGoodbye, Ludacris, Cher and The Wiggles.
This year, due to FREDFest’s deconstruction, the winning act, Će JJR (chay-jay-junior), is set to perform at Sunny’s, the nightclub in downtown Fredonia.
“We want to really distance ourselves from the event formerly known as FREDFest,” said Vice President of Student Affairs David Herman. “The best way to do that is to distance ourselves from our hardworking, talented students — by encouraging them to perform off-campus.”
There was debate as to which bar would host the talented winner of Battle of the New Bands this year.
Last year, the winning band, New Masons, was able to open for HelloGoodbye and The X Ambassadors during the first weekend in May; this semester, New Masons played at EBC West, a bar in downtown Fredonia, so that was the first choice for this year’s winner.
However, EBC affiliates were quick to decline the offer, saying that New Masons had caused such rampant destruction that no other Fredonia band would be allowed to play there again.
BJ’s also declined the opportunity to host the Battle of the New Bands artist.
“We’re going for a new wholesome, Christian atmosphere,” said Tom, the bartender with the beard. “We’re going to start leaving the lights on, actually.”
So this left two options: Sunny’s and Baby Dolls. While Sunny’s does have a lot of traffic, Baby Dolls has a functional stage and is dry, so there would have been a low rate of underage alcohol consumption for a school-related event.
However, Baby Dolls declined the offer, stating that it had an image to uphold.
Thankfully, Sunny’s was totally in support of hosting the event.
“We’re always looking for a way to branch out into the college community,” said Sunny’s patron Jen R. Alscum. “It’s been so long since we hosted a school event, and I wonder why.”
The last event was last semester’s drag show, hosted by none other than Kimmie Moore.
“I got some of the best publicity of my life that night,” Alscum said. “I got a couple of other things, too.”
So look out: the show in May is sure to be one you won’t soon forget.