The Inaugural Boom Box Battle of the Bands will be held at 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, at the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.
But you better get your tickets quick, says Dr. Oneill Sanford, assistant director of the JSU marching band, because “we’re expecting a sellout” of some 8,000 tickets.
“For bandheads, this is the event of the year,” says Sanford.
The “battle” is a faceoff between JSU’s Sonic Boom of the South and Southern University’s Human Jukebox, two premier bands of the South.
“We have people coming from New York, Chicago, California,” Sanford said. “It’s been long awaited” to see which band can outplay the other face to face.
Real “bandheads,” as Oneill calls them, will want to get the VIP tickets, which are on the gymnasium floor “right up next to the bands.”
“That’s where you can see sweat on the kids, the mouth on the horn, the spit coming out,” he said.
Tickets are $15. VIP tickets are $20. They can be purchased at the Music Department, F.D. Hall Music Center, Monday through Friday, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., or online at:
https://epay.jsums.edu/C20107_ustores/web/store_cat.jsp?STOREID=8&CATID=21
This faceoff has been years in the making, Sanford said, and is a two-year series.
Next year, the “battle” will take place on Southern’s home turf in Baton Rouge, La.
The event is a fundraiser for both bands.