Cedric Boyd
Gramblinite staffHeadline: Honda Battle of the Bands still entertaining
This weekend is going to be full of excitement with super bowl XLII being played in Arizona. But, last weekend, ten black college bands participated in the super bowl of bands, better known as the 6th annual Honda battle of the bands at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.
The battle is made up of ten historically black bands that were nominated to participate yearly. Grambling was picked the very first year and has not been back since. Dr. Larry Pannell, head band director, “the GSU world famed band will not attend the event again until all SWAC bands have had an opportunity to participate.”
The ten bands that participated were Winston-Salem University, Shaw University, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, North Carolina Central University, Bethune-Cookman University, Texas Southern University and Norfolk State University. Although these great bands were in attendance, many people wanted to know where was Grambling.
Many celebrities attended the battle including performances by Young Joc and Gorilla Zoe. Over 60,000 people were in attendance and many of those were Gramblinites. Members of GSU’s chapters of Phi Mu Alpha, Sigma Alpha Iota, Tau Beta Sigma and Kappa Kappa Psi came to enjoy the show.
GSU Phi Mu Alpha member Broderick Eggins said, “the show was very entertaining and I will be back next year.” The bands did everything from Asian dance routines to having Bethune-Cookman presenting themselves as a university for the first time as marching band.
But if one were to ask who stole the show, it was Texas Southern University. Although, there is no real winner of the battle, they were the only band that received a standing ovation.
The battle is hosted every last weekend in January. Anyone who wants to attend or just vote their favorite HBCU band to attend can do so by going to the Honda Battle of the Bands website and click on who deserves to go. But voters beware, 42 bands are eligible, but only ten are chosen.