Eight Boston-area bands battled Friday for a cause greater than musical conquest.
A crowd of about 50 people attended the Haiti benefit concert “Battle for Change,” hosted by the ONE Campaign at Boston University at BU Central.
“ONE BU is an anti-poverty and disease prevention advocacy group,” said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore and BU ONE member Christine Smith.
ONE, cofounded by U2 frontman Bono, sponsors the ONE Campus Challenge, in which colleges across the country compete to determine which school is the most successful in campaigning against extreme poverty, according to the ONE website. BU ONE currently ranks in seventh place, the website states.
College of Arts and Sciences junior and BU ONE member Sarah Hunter said the whole idea of the organization is to promote awareness on campus.
“Normally, we don’t take money,” Hunter said.
BU ONE had previously wanted to host a battle of the bands, but had not found an appropriate cause, Smith said.
“We knew right away when the Haiti event happened that we wanted to do a battle of the bands,” she said. “It worked out well.”
During set changes, members of BU ONE showed slideshow presentations and gave short speeches to inform attendees about the crisis in Haiti.
Smith said that in lieu of judges, BU ONE decided to use donations as votes, with the band collecting the most money to be named the winner of the competition.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different than just asking for money,” she said.
Rising Tribe, the winning band, collected the most money, raising over $100 alone. The eight bands raised about $300 total.
Donations from the Battle for Change will be given to Partners in Health, an aid group stationed in Haiti, and other struggling countries that provide communities with medical care, Smith said.
BU ONE also sold beaded bracelets made of recycled paper at the concert. Proceeds from the beads, about $100, will be given to bead makers struggling in Uganda, Smith said.
“We wanted to do something directly,” she said. “The more people that know about it and can help, the better.”
BU ONE contacted bands to play the Battle for Change benefit through online methods such as Facebook and MySpace, she said.
The first band that performed, the Novel Ideas, said they played the show mainly to support the cause.
“We’re not planning on winning or anything,” said guitarist and vocalist Daniel Radin, a Boston College sophomore. “It makes us feel good about ourselves.”
Lead guitarist Alex Caplow, a Tufts University sophomore, said the band plans to donate half of its merchandise sales to the Haiti cause.
CAS senior Caitlin Crain said she wished more people attended, but still said the event was great.
“It’s a good cause, and there are good bands,” Crain said.
CAS sophomore and attendee Hannah Somerville said that the crisis in Haiti is a major social problem that deserves attention.
“I think it’s really cool how the money goes to Haiti and not the bands,” she said.
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