The Florham Programming Committee (FPC) presented the “Battle of the Bands,” which showcased six bands to a crowd of over 200 on Thursday, Feb. 19.

She Screams Scandal, a five-piece, punk/pop band from North Caldwell, beat out all the competition to win first place — a prize pack that included $300 and the opportunity to play at the spring concert later this semester. Reverse Order took second place, winning $200, and the emo duo The Battle at Matt and Adam won the $100 third prize.

Each band featured at least one member from FDU. The bands were each given a ten-minute set with which to wow a panel of three judges and entertain the excited FDU students who came out to support the bands.

Paranoid Panda opened the night out with their catchy indie style. Paranoid Panda featured FDU seniors Justin Tomasello (drums) and Jason Chau (guitar). Although Paranoid Panda is a four-piece, Tomasello and Chau played as a duo at the Battle of the Bands.

The members of Paranoid Panda were excited to play in the Battle of the Bands this year. Tomasello said, “After three years of waiting, we get to play,” as apparently Paranoid Panda had been unable to compete in past years.

Following Paranoid Panda, Reverse Order rocked the stage. With FDU freshman Cruise Russo on drums, these guys delivered an explosive set. They had a very tight stage presence and among their original songs, Reverse Order also treated their fans to a punk cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella.”

Despite their age (Russo is the oldest, while the youngest member is only 16), Reverse Order delivered a high quality performance. Reverse Order impressed the judges enough to win second place.

After Reverse Order, the Battle at Matt and Adam took things down a notch with an acoustic set, which included a cover of “Your Love” by the Outfield. Just two guys, Adam Maffei and Matt Ryan, both FDU seniors, they were very confident of their chances at the Battle of the Bands.

Ryan said that “we bring something different to the table because it’s just two dudes with acoustic guitars,” as opposed to a whole band.

Their confidence was well-founded, as the Battle at Matt and Adam walked away that night with third place overall and a $100 prize.

She Screams Scandal followed with a dynamic set that rocked the crowd. She Screams Scandal features FDU senior Nick Teodoro, sophomore Chris Salpetro, junior Joe Jablonski and junior Jordon Kugler. Their singer does not attend FDU.

The current line up for She Screams Scandal has only been together for seven months, but their music was strong and their performance was tight.

Teodoro said that “we went out with the idea that obviously we wanted to win, but also to get people on campus to notice us.”

Teodoro was very surprised and pleased with the turnout for the Battle of the Bands. He said that “the four of us who are from FDU are all in Greek organizations and the turn out (for the Battle of the Bands) was better than at Greek events.”

She Screams Scandal finished out the night with the first place prize of $300 and a set at the Spring Concert later this semester.

Carbon Radio came next. Featuring FDU’s own Andy Katz on drums, Carbon Radio played an energetic set of what they call “progressive indie.” Katz said that he was “very excited to play” in the Battle of the Bands. Hailing from Old Bridge, Carbon Radio has been playing together for two years.

To round out the night, emo duo Shell of Summer played an acoustic set. Sounding very much like Dashboard Confessional, they closed out the contest.

In between the sets, MCs Jen Reed and Dosi Shakur kept the audience entertained with contests and games, including a scavenger hunt.

FPC also raffled off two gift baskets, each worth $100.

The Battle of the Bands and the Powder Puff Football Game were originally scheduled to take place last semester. Both had to be postponed to this semester.

At the time this article went to press, FPC could not be reached for comment.

DAN LANDAU
PHOTO EDITOR