
Lead singer of Beebop Flim Flam performs Thursday night at Albert Taylor Hall during UAC’s Battle of the Bands. Beebop Flim Flam lost out the Paperclips. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin
Emporia State’s Albert Taylor Hall was rocking last Thursday night with the UAC sponsored Battle of the Bands. The Black Tuxedos out of Emporia, Beebop Flim Flam from Lawrence, Voice Issue of Kansas City and The Paperclips from Kansas City, Mo., battled to decide who would open for Ha Ha Tonka and Antennas Up at Flintstock April 28, but The Paperclips came out on top.
“We’re super excited to win, that’s pretty awesome and honoring,” Paperclips’ bassist Jason Richards said.
Judges from Beer:30, Kiss 103.1 FM and the ESU music department determined the winner. Zoiks! performed improvisational comedy in between musical performances and a free raffle was held with prizes like a discounted piercing, an ESU blanket and sugar-free Redbull. Admission to the event was free because it was paid for by student fees.
“It was a chance for them to watch Zoiks! perform and hear local artists. I mean it’s hard because there are not a lot of activities that don’t involve alcohol or pain and this is completely free to students,” UAC music chair and senior English major Sarah Kirby said.
Kirby said this was not the first time the university has had battle of the bands, but it was the first year where the reward is to open at Flintstock.
“I just thought it’d be a cool prize because they will be opening for Ha Ha Tonka and Antennas Up, which are both nationally recognized bands, so it’s a pretty big deal,” Kirby said.
Kirby said the event was not only a way to find someone to open for Flintstock, but mainly a way to expose students to local music.
“It’s a great way to showcase local music, so we just wanted to do that and get the music out there and we just thought it’d be a good idea,” Kirby said.
Junior communications major Brett Wyrick said if he had been judging, he would have voted for the Paperclips, too. He said he thinks it’s cool that they won because their southern rock style is similar to that of Ha Ha Tonka.
“That southern rock that they played was real, real good and especially since they’re opening up for Ha Ha Tonka, which has kind of a southern-esque lead singer too, a lot like them, so it’s going to be real solid to open up for them,” Wyrick said.
The Paperclips’ guitarist and vocalist Jake Briscoe said he felt like the band didn’t play as well as they could have but no one else except for them would have noticed. Briscoe said a lot of it was due to how Albert Taylor is set up.
“I’ve got mixed emotions because I feel like we played the worst that we’ve played in a long time. Just because of some faulty equipment and I couldn’t get the right guitar tone that I wanted tonight,” Briscoe said.
Despite technical difficulties, the band said they enjoyed playing because the crowd got really into it. At one point, Briscoe just started tapping his foot and everyone began clapping.
“They were participating at every turn, like you did something cool and they were like ‘Whoo!’” Richards said. “This was a very enthralled audience, they were fun tonight.”
Having played in Emporia before, at Beer:30, Briscoe said it seems like people in Kansas care more about music.
“A lot of the places we play, it’s like you can play your best show you’ve ever played and people are just like ‘alright’. Sometimes they’re into it, sometimes they’re not it just depends,” Briscoe said.




If you’ve looked at the Emporia State Web site this month, you may have noticed some changes to the design. Director of Marketing Brad Goebel said the changes were made to make navigation easier and cater to prospective students.


















