by Ollie Heppenstall
Student musicians are tuning up for the yearly battle of the bands as part of the Varsity contest between De Montfort University and the University of Leicester.
Theatre of Dreams: Dryden Street Social, the venue for this year’s varsityThe battle, scheduled to take place on Friday, March 9, at the Dryden Street Social, will feature four acts from the DMU Music Society and four acts from UoL’s Band and Gig Society before being closed out by music from both the DMU and UoL DJ societies.
Matt Coll, DMU Music Society Chairman, said: “This year’s battle is the fourth we’ve held, with last year’s being the biggest. Filling out Firebug on a Monday night was a bit special, and this year we’ve been able to double the potential capacity by booking Dryden Street.
“The venue’s been booked since September, so this has been in the pipeline for months.”
Acts from DMU include 5-piece band The Excellent Adventures, of whom Coll is a member, 4-piece indie rock outfit Sweatbox, William Bartholemew and the reason we can’t have nice things, and Brian.
Coll also said: “The format is much the same as last year.
“The bands will alternate, playing 25-minute sets each, before a winner being voted and the DJ societies closing out the show with music all through the night.
“The atmosphere last year was electric, it only got bigger and better as the night went on and led to a decisive De Montfort victory.”
“Hopefully we can pull off the same result this year, we’re definitely taking it as seriously as the sports teams take their own varsity fixtures.”
