battle of the bands. part II.

i promised the highlights from the battle of the bands, and here they are (because even though that last post was one big whining session it was actually a fantastic night):

• the bands did a great job. all of them. i was weirdly proud of them, like mom-proud. 
• the judges were fabulous, they were honest but encouraging in their critiques and were genuinely excited to be there. 
• the main room of the venue was perfect for the event despite the minor roadblocks we encountered at the beginning...and it looks legit in pictures.
• we had leftover food from the green rooms which i then proceeded to eat for the next week.
• my radio students were willing to do whatever needed to be done to help which made the event run as smoothly as possible.
• the mission team that was there raising funds for their trip raised about $200.
• two different bands won prizes: grand prize went to Harps & Liars and the audience choice prize went to Last Man Standing.
• as they were leaving, people were already talking about the next battle of the bands. at the moment i was like, 'slow down kids, we haven't even cleaned up from this one yet' but a week later i was ready for the next one.  

xo

battle of the bands. part I.

venue- check
bands- check
judges- check
green room(s) food- check
audience favorite prize- check
grand prize- check
artist/staff/judge lanyards- check

two weeks ago, this checklist was my life. crown radio hosted it's first battle of the bands, and like anything you plan in life, it didn't go off without a couple of hitches.

we arrived at the venue and no one seemed to know what was going on or that the battle was even happening there that night. the guy i had been arranging the whole thing with wasn't there and apparently didn't tell anyone when we would be arriving or what we would need from the venue. we were greeted with blank stares and a lot of work to get the place in the shape we needed. i really do think it would be the best use of my limited time to pick up and vacuum the entire main room before the event. oh, we should empty the trashes too? love to.

one of the green rooms ended up being a shared office with FIVE desks in it. really, sir? you think it's a good idea to have one of the green rooms be an already over-crowded office that has desks with personal belongings without even consulting the owners of those desks first? okay, no worries, we'll just move everything around to make enough space for four bands and radio staff to use it as well as hide all the personal affects of the desk owners so they don't get "misplaced" and then put it all back at the end of the night. sure, good plan.

the bands were supposed to arrive at 4pm for load-in and sound check, one of them didn't get there until 6:30. i understand that things happen, and you get stuck in traffic, and bands are notorious for being late but COME ON. we were scheduled to open the doors at 6:30 but you can't open the doors if one of the bands is just starting their sound check. they apologized to everyone in the pre-battle band meeting and i can't stay mad at a boy with a bull ring for long but it was frustrating and gave me what i believe to be the start of an ulcer.

we got started 20 minutes late, i hate being late.

okay, whining over.
i'll write about the great parts of the night soon....stay tuned! 

xo