Battle of the Bands – as synonymous with Veishea as funnel cakes, cherry pies and sobriety.

The annual event where local bands duke it out musically has long been a notable part of the student event and has drawn crowds since its rebirth in 1999.

This year’s battle, scheduled to run from 2 p.m. to midnight Friday on Welch Avenue, should be no exception. Almost 40 bands applied this year, so participating in the battle will be somewhat of an accomplishment.

“It’s a real honor just to be in it,” says Steve Walstrom of the Sadistic Kids. “With so many bands applying for it and they only take 10, that’s pretty big right there.”

Cutting the list down to 10 was left in the hands Veishea Music Coordinators Kyle Moss, Daily reporter and columnist, and Clete Younger. To do this, they used some new guidelines – that band members had to be ISU students.

Problems arose last year with bands that weren’t from Iowa State, Younger says.

“There were so many entries and a lot of them aren’t even from Iowa State, and it would be silly if someone from Iowa State didn’t get a fair chance,” Younger says. “The largest voice of concern last year was those people from Iowa State who watched someone who wasn’t from Iowa State play.”

Younger and Moss also used other criteria to narrow the field to 10 bands. Among them were the band’s demo and the ability to produce an entire 45-minute set. The goal was to pick 10 bands that would represent as wide a variety of music as possible.

“We had things like heavy country and there was one band [Argos] that had electric violin and cello, and that one obviously made it because we had never seen that before,” Younger says. “If there was a large group of the same kind of music, we tried to pick out elements that stood out in one band.”

This year’s prizes include studio time from Ames’ Bi-Fi Records and gift certificates from Keepers Music.

One of the prizes most valued by previous bands will be left out this year though. In prior battles, the winner has had the chance to perform again on Saturday night, but as of press time, this was not among the rewards.

Patrick Fleming, of Poison Control Center, last year’s first- place band, believes this is a mistake.

“That was the prize for us. That’s the kind of prize a band should want. There are not very many places to play in Ames, so you get to play two amazing shows on a huge stage in front of a ton of people,” Fleming says. “That’s the best thing that can happen to a band.”

Prizes aren’t the first thing on most of these band’s minds though. The exposure bands receive by participating in the battle overshadows any other possible gain.

Many of this year’s participants are either new to the Ames area, such as Sadistic Kids and 4Below, or just relatively new bands, like Argos and Catchpenny.

“We don’t really go into it trying to beat other bands,” says Chris Saldanha of 8 Miles Out. “There is usually a pretty good crowd there, so we just go to have a good time and if we happen to win, that’s awesome. But it’s not like we are super bummed about not winning.”

“I’m really excited to be playing it. I don’t really care if we win I’m just glad to be a part of it,” Sadistic Kids’ Walstrom says.

Fleming says the attitude of just having fun was what won the battle last year for Poison Control Center. In fact, Fleming broke a string midway through the group’s set, leaving him to believe there was no chance of winning.

“We didn’t think we played very well; we thought Keepers of the Carpet should have won because they were awesome,” Fleming says. “The pressure was on until I broke a string, then we started to have fun. If I ever had to do it again I would probably go in just to have fun and not worry about winning.”

Fleming does admit though, that winning a battle of the bands is always in your mind. He compares it to being nominated for an Oscar, you act like you are happy just to be nominated, but you want to win.

Matt VanMeter of 4Below couldn’t agree more.

“It’s just like basketball or football; you are going out to win for the team and that’s what we are doing with the band too,” VanMeter explains. “A lot of bands play it down because they don’t want to come across as arrogant. But I don’t think you need to be seen that way because you are just trying to do your best and beat the other team.”