On Friday night, the K-State Student Union Program Council hosted the 32nd annual OPUS Battle of the Bands.
The lineup included The Box Turtles, In Flow, 3 $hade$ and Clashing Tonalities. The event presented an opportunity for students to show off their musical ability.
“We put on Battle of the Bands just to showcase a lot of the talent that we have K-State,” said UPC member Amanda Coatney, junior in food science. “I feel like a lot of people don’t know all that our students have to offer. This is a really great way to show them that.”
The Box Turtles took home first place and the $250 prize. Band members Max Byram, Alex Paul, Chris Siegal and Colton Jones played a set of rock songs inspired by bands like Led Zeppelin.
Lead guitarist Colton Jones, senior in music, also started the band In Flow, which received second place.
“I listened to a of rock music growing up, and since I got to K-State it’s been a lot of jazz,” Jones said. “These are the outlets. I do my outlets with [The] Box Turtles and then In Flow is the [jazz].”
Jones said he wants to hone his skills to a point where he can do music for a living.
“[My goals are] to keep doing it and to keep making money,” Jones said. “If I can switch off and not do those minimum wage jobs, if I can switch it and just gig and teach. I’m a simple man, simple goals.”
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Another group, 3 $hade$, got together just three weeks ago. The group seeks to bring their art to Manhattan and create hip-hop music that does not focus on objectifying women and the love of money.
Group member Robert “Rob” James Turnbough II, Manhattan resident, performed a song which he came up with on the spot as way to relieve recent conflicts in his life.
“It was one of the rawest moments I’ve had as a performer,” Turnbough said. “Getting to sing whatever I felt to a bunch of people. That’s just so freeing.”
Rae Esser, freshman in social work, said she enjoyed the variety of genres at the event and also seeing the reactions of the crowd.
“That’s my favorite thing, watching the crowd, just seeing how they react,” Esser said. “Seeing who’s dancing, who’s jumping, watching everyone get involved.”
