In a surprise announcement, Dave Joyce and the Slow Pitch band and 5 Cherry Lewis will both perform at this year’s Interfrat-ernity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.
The bands won the THON Band Bash — a battle of the bands that THON supporters and music lovers alike attended Thursday night in HUB Alumni Hall.
Though only one band was supposed to win, when THON Band Captain Kevin Swanson made the announcement, he said the decision was simply too hard to make, so both bands will get stage time.
THON entertainment chairmen judged the competition based on their own impressions of the bands and crowd response.
The six-band contest was opened by 5 Cherry Lewis, featuring two Penn State students, covering a variety of sing-along tunes, including “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga and “Your Love is My Drug” by Ke$ha.
Though the band experienced some technical difficulties with microphones and bass guitar, it kept the audience entertained by telling jokes and playing the “Let’s Go State” chant.
Drew Pupo, who attended THON Band Bash with his Rules and Regulations Committee, thought the group did a good job of working through its issues.
“It happens,” Pupo (sophomore-health policy and administration) said. “They did a great job of getting back to the show.”
To close its set, 5 Cherry Lewis brought in a string ensemble for a rendition of Katy Perry’s “Firework,” which it learned to perform specifically for THON.
Pupo said he enjoyed the cover because the song captured the feel of the dance marathon’s atmosphere.
Crash City— a group from Pittsburgh with personal ties to the charity —followed the trend of playing Perry songs by performing the summertime hit “California Gurls.”
Band member Jordan Tomb joked to the crowd that he wrote the song after spending winter break in California and meeting a lovely lady, but to his dismay Perry beat it to him.
David Schlie happened to see the event while he was walking by the HUB, so he stopped by to listen and caught Crash City’s performance.
“They were really good,” Schlie (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said. “It was better than what I was expecting.”
To e-mail reporter: hmr5027@psu.edu
