There are musicians all across Oakland University who want nothing more than for their band to be the one that makes it. Many students appear to be continuously collaborating with their peers to make music that will resonate with others. Luckily for all the musicians out there, Oakland University’s one and only band competition, “Battle of the Bands,” is returning after two years on March 10 from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. in the Habitat inside the Oakland Center.

The Student Program Board (SPB)-hosted event, which began decades ago, allows the best five bands – with at least one member from each band being an OU student – to showcase their musical talents and become the band on campus.

Kaleigh Belz, Annual Events Director for the SPB, assisted in setting up auditions, outreach to bands and event timelines that come along with coordinating an event.

“Battle of the Bands really tries to put the focus on group talent and is also more music-centered,” Belz said. “One of the really interesting facets of the Battle of the Bands event is the way that we get to pair it with the Spring Concert that we are fortunate enough to be putting on later this semester.”

The audition for this year’s Battle of the Bands competition was officially closed as of Feb. 28. Interested individuals submitted their band name, band members and a video submission of their performance, which is then reviewed by the SPB committee.

“We want to give as many voices an opportunity to compete as possible, so our board reviews the video and selects the top five contenders,” Joshua Robinson, president of SPB, said. “The winner is then selected the night of the event by a combination of the popular vote and judges voting.”

According to Belz, the winner of the event will be provided with an opportunity to perform during the opening ceremony of the upcoming Spring Concert hosted by the SPB. After a few years of being unable to host the concert, it is finally going to return on April 3 in the O’Rena where Peach Tree Rascals and Tai Verdes will be performing.

“They’re both more up and coming artists, but they’ve each got some popular, more recognizable songs if you listen to their discography, and we’re excited to be able to bring them to campus,” Belz said. “Tickets should be opening up soon.”

Anyone interested is welcome to join the night listening and watching the performance of a wide range of genres and styles the five bands have to show in the Habitat.

The SPB is also hosting a variety of other events, including the Drive-in movie night, murder mystery, Red Wings game trips and the roller rink. For more information, visit the SPB website or its Facebook page.