The Dance Marathon Fundraising Committee will bring four bands to Saint Mary's Saturday night for a Battle of the Bands.
Harper's Valley, Solus and Sola, Katuius and Rebecca Schiappa will be battling it out for studio time, photo packages and gift certificates, said Frances Bruder, assistant director of Student Activities at Saint Mary's.
The event will take place in the Saint Mary's Student Center Lounge from 6 p.m. to 9, and costs $10 at the door. T-shirts will also be sold at the event for $10.
The bands are primarily composed of Saint Mary's and Notre Dame students with one band from outside of the schools. Notre Dame sophomores Ashley Ahn and David Lee form the band Solus and Sola.
Harper's Valley is made up of six Notre Dame students: junior Will Weicher, sophomore Chris Terschluse, senior Chris Urban, junior Chris Doolin, senior Jim Weicher and junior Rob Mineo. The band viewed this as a last hurrah since Will Weicher and Doolin are both going abroad next semester, Will Weicher said. The band played at Dance Marathon last year, and after some Saint Mary's students e-mailed group members, they decided to participate in the Battle of the Bands. The band could be classified as rock/jam and plays everything from classing rock to 90s pop, Weicher said.
Schiappa, a Saint Mary's freshman, heard about Battle of the Bands through an e-mail sent to Saint Mary's students and was interested. Schiappa described her original lyrics as funny and "SNL-like," saying they're meant to be "just kind of joking around in an awkward way."
Dance Marathon Fundraising chair Sarah Voss and her committee are heading up the Battle of the Bands, the first big public fundraiser for Dance Marathon. The committee is hoping to raise about a thousand dollars and draw 200 people, Voss said.
"It would be a good way to get the community excited for Dance Marathon," Voss said.
One hundred percent of the proceeds from the event, including T-shirt sales, are going toward Dance Marathon and Riley Hospital.
The Dance Marathon Committee plans to organize other fundraisers and events, including a dinner and a Mass at Saint Mary's. While it is also looking to plan an eating contest, a chapstick sale and a pasta dinner, these events are all up in the air, said Dance Marathon chair Francesca Johnson.
