The Lory Student Center got a rock n’ roll makeover Friday night with the First Annual CSU Battle of the Bands.Battle of the Bands. The ballrooms were decked out with two fully equipped stages and professional sound equipment. While only three of the eight bands showed up to the event, the battle was still on to find Colorado State University’s number one band.

The event consisted of one “Show Me What You’ve Got” round where the bands each performed for ten to twenty minutes. This was followed by one “Go Hard of Go Home” round where the bands got another chance to show the judges what they could do. CSU student Cheyenne Lee also gave an intermission performance between rounds.

The event was judged by Ben Disotto, Joey Swa and Denise Apodaca. Disotto works in many venues in Colorado such as the Larimer Lounge. He is also a drummer in his own band. Swa is a professional musician. He plays guitar, bass guitar and drums, and his genres include hardcore and punk rock. Apodaca is a professor in CSU’s Music Department and has extensive training in piano performance.The bands fighting for the judges attention were Quiet Hours, Hypnotic Vibes and Out of Ink.

Out of Ink is a fairly new band made up of singer Kalie Lanik, guitarist Luke, bassist Jeremy Jordan and drummer Stevie Gray. They are all CSU students. The band has only been together for a month, and Battle of the Bands was their first big gig. They came in third place.

“Creative and soulful,” Swa said in the judges critique. “You guys had a great personality.”

Quiet Hours is also a band of CSU students who got together after meeting in the dorms their freshman year. The band is made up of vocalist Amaia Sangroniz, guitarist Austin Hazlehurst, bassist Nolan Keith, drummer Krista Frable and keyboardist Ben Buescher.

“They developed a sound together that is a blend of alternative, punk and indie rock,” said emcee Kahlil Rashad.

“You guys enjoyed yourselves, and it was really catchy,” Swa said. “The music was great.”

The judges also noted the band’s passion and their great energy. They came in second place.

Hypnotic Vibes is a local Colorado band consisting of Joey Solano, Mario Alvarado, Alex Villanova and Sterling Swanson. They have a very unique sound, mixing together pop, disco, alternative, ska, funk and Cali-style reggae to create a genre all their own.

“Each member aims to present the music scene with an original array of colorful chord, smooth vocal harmonies, powerful horns, bombastic bass lines and booty shaken’ drums that anybody can dance to,” Rashad said.

“Really well rehearsed,” Swa said. “It seems like you guys have been playing together for years.”

The judges commended their writing and “catchy hooks” and called them “the whole shebang.” All of this put them in first place.

“They’re all winners,” said CSU student Kent Washington who works for RamEvents. “They all get prizes which is awesome.”

RamEvents put on the Battle of the Bands with help from KCSU.

All of the bands went home with prizes from Guitar Center. Everything from guitar picks, to headphones, to dorm room recording equipment was handed out.

“Here at RamEvents it’s pretty much programs run by students for students,” Washington said. “We’re really big music heads, so we really wanted to do something really awesome for you all.”

This was called the First Annual CSU Battle of the Bands. Hopefully, next year will draw in more bands and an even bigger crowd.

For more information on events like this, visit lsc.colostate.edu/ramevents. You can also follow the bands on their social media. Look for hypnotic_vibes, quiethoursband and outofinkband on instgram and like the bands on Facebook.

“We all need to do what we can to support our up and coming artists,” Rashad said.