Frattle of the Bands VIII – Round 1

Last Wednesday, friends and fraternities packed The Red Lion to support two bands who battled it out for the opportunity to advance to finals on November 2nd. The judges were up for a tough deliberation between Alpha Gamma Rho/Phi Gamma Nu’s Free Fall Out Boy and Alpha Kappa Lambda’s (AKL) Academic Kollegiate Learners, but the night came to a close with Free Fall Out Boy advancing.

 

The first act, Free Fall Out Boy, took the stage around 11pm gaining the interest of patrons with a cover of Green Day’s “American Idiot”. This was the band’s first debut in the Frattle of the Bands competition and they couldn’t be more excited with the outcome, “I love to see the crowd sing along…it motivates me to give a good performance,” lead singer, Kevin Quealy explained. That liveliness and dedication translated into the song selection and execution of their covers. Their version of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” was new, fun and had a pop-punk edge that the crowd gained energy from. From then on the crowd was completely unstoppable.

 

The Academic Kollegiate Learners took the stage immediately after Free Fall Out Boy for what lead guitar, Daniel Bonucci, claimed to be somewhat of a “tradition” for AKL. This band added a special edge by having a female vocalist, with clear vocal strengths in the songs they chose. Starting with Joan Jet’s “I Love Rock N’ Roll” they were guaranteed a powerful and energetic set. Aside from having a female vocalist, there was a keys player who made a clear appearance with their performance of  Bowling for Soup’s “1985”. Each song seemed to have its own highlight that was very intense and interesting for the audience. One crowd member said their performance was, “amazing, astonishing, incredible,” so nothing short of entertaining!

 

The night didn’t stop there, both bands socialized with friends until the finalist was announced and then continued to absorb the nightlife at The Red Lion. Every Wednesday of October will be packed with performances by more of the University of Illinois favorite fraternity and sorority bands; every week one winner is chosen to advance to finals round on November 2nd.

 

Click here to learn more about Frattle of the Bands VIII.