94.3 hosts Extreme Halloween bash
Plenty of music, beer, and spooky costumes characterized 94.3 Extreme Radio's first annual Halloween party, held at the Knoxville Convention Center. The evening began a little slow, but picked up considerably with Copper's performance. The evening was also peppered with music by Limp Bitzik, Korn, and Disturbed, among others.
The first contest held was as "reverse drawing," which narrowed a field of 191 down to nine. The prize was the "Extreme Machine," a '97 Integra, provided by Rogers Ford. Though having to listen to 191 names be read off tended to drag on, radio personality "Roach" did make it a little more interesting. After the field was narrowed to nine, each of the contestants tried to find the back end of the car by uncovering blocks on a board, somewhat reminiscent of "Wheel of Fortune." There were also consolation prizes, including CDs, movie passes, and McDonald's gift certificates. The eventual winner was Kevin Spurgeon, who plans to give the car to his son, who just turned 16. "He's going to be extremely excited, extremely!" Spurgeon exclaimed.
After the winner was announced, Copper took the stage. An outstanding band, Copper won 94.3's Battle of the Bands in 2001. The crowd was surprisingly small by this point, but those who left early really missed out. An excellent hard rock band, Copper definitely delivered.
Brad Reynolds, bass player for the band, and Bearden High School alumni, named his musical influences as being bands like U2, Guns n Roses, Tool, Rage Against the Machine. Keith Wallen, lead singer adds, "Metallica, all the alternative bands, I always dug that stuff," which helps explain the style of music. The band was formed about three years ago on the UT campus. Copper's newly released first CD, Fragile Fall, is now available at Disc Exchange and Cats, and is highly recommended.
During Copper's intermission, the staple of all Halloween parties, the costume contest, was held, the grand prize being $1,000. Roach introduced all the participants, which included Hannibal Lecter, an evil University of Georgia cheerleader (aren't they all?), and Mary Poppins, among others. "Elvis" (Tom "Dr. Tom" McColloch stole the stage with his "Elvis pelvis"). The contestants were then narrowed to nine, and winners were announced. Coming in third was John Dockins, who was dressed as a pimp. Second place honors went to Russ Flynn, in a very elaborate Evil Clown costume. The big winner was John E. Lawless of Clinton, who was dressed in a realistic looking decapitated man suit. Unfortunately, due to his decapitation, Lawless was not available for comment.
The rest of the night was devoted to Copper, who performed such songs as "Got it all Wrong," and the cover song, "The One I Love," which REM fans should recognize. The crowd loved it. "This has been a great night. Copper is awesome," said Danielle Hosking, who was seeing the band for the first time. "I'm definitely going to see them again."
Overall, it was a great night. Though the reverse drawing seemed to drag on at the beginning, the costume contest was very entertaining, and the Copper performance was definitely the highlight of the night. Even when things weren't great, host Roach was able to make them entertaining. A good night all around.
- John Brown is a senior in political science and history at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville. Contact him at johnnyb325@aol.com, or visit www.johnnorrisbrown.com. This column originally ran in the November 6-12, 2004 edition of The East Tennessee Scene.