MOORHEAD – The student musical group “Raining in Paradise” was chosen as the opening act for Cornstock and Bea Miller was announced as the headliner for the concert on Thursday, Feb. 29.
Three student bands competed in the Campus Events Commission’s (CEC) annual “Battle of the Bands,” which decides the opener for Cornstock. This year’s competitors were Last Minute Dream, G.G. and the Groove and Raining in Paradise.
The competition also served as a platform for CEC’s Showcase Commissioner, Lily Medved-Charpentier to announce that Walking Phoenix would be the professional opener and Bea Miller would headline the event.
CEC works all year to plan Cornstock. “We have a meeting every Nov. where we have a list of different artists.” Lizzie Allan, member of CEC said. “We go through them with a partner and gather our opinions, and then talk in a large group of who we went there and watch videos of them performing live, so we get a general vibe.”
This year, CEC watched live videos of over 20 artists, but Miller’s live performance of “S.L.U.T.” sold the show for members of the commission, Medved-Charpentier said.
“I think she has a fantastic live performance quality.” Medved-Charpentier said. “I can’t wait to see her set at Cornstock.”
The night was kicked off by two-time “Battle of the Bands” champion, Ghouls. They performed a stripped back and acoustic set of original songs “Good Life”, “Manners” and a cover of “What’s Up?” By 4 Non Blondes.
This opening act was followed by a performance from the first competitor, Last Minute Dream. This group performed “Murder on the Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, “Material Girl” by Madonna, “Hot n Cold” by Katy Perry and “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo”.
Next up was Raining in Paradise. They started their set with “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi, then moved into an original song titled “Supernova”, which is coming out on their debut album, “Oblivion,” within the next month. They next threw the crowd back to 2009 with “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga.
“We’ve gotta do it to ‘em” said Sydney Christenson, the guitarist of Raining in Paradise, before playing their original song, “Can I Just Stay Here”. The crowd could not get enough of Raining in Paradise, as they cheered for an encore. The group performed “Dear Maria, Count Me In” by All Time Low as their encore.
The last act of the night, G.G. and the Groove, started their set with “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” by Whitney Huston.
Grooving into their second song “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, G.G. and the Groove had everyone out of their seats and jamming along to this fan favorite. Finishing with “Holding out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler, G.G. and the Groove captivated the audience with their nine-person band and two lead singers, Megan Gunnerson and Josephine Golla.
After all of the performances were given, it was time for students to vote. Medved-Charpentier announced that Raining in Paradise had won with 59.3% of the votes.
Cornstock is set for Saturday, April 20 in Memorial Auditorium.
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