Marching Illini Showcase Epic Talent in Metallica's Collegiate Band Battle

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — The University of Illinois’ Marching Illini has thrown their hat into the ring for a unique collegiate competition organized by a legendary rock band.

In collaboration with EA Sports College Football, the iconic band Metallica has launched the “For Whom the Band Tolls” competition, inviting college marching bands nationwide to showcase their creativity and skill. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group is looking for the most thrilling and original interpretations of their music by collegiate bands.

As part of the competition, participating bands were granted access to a selection of Metallica song arrangements, made available through Hal Leonard’s sheetmusicdirect.com. This allows bands to select from a diverse array of Metallica’s hits to craft their performances.

Enter Sandman
Master of Puppets
One
Fuel
Lux Æterna
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Fade to Black
Wherever I May Roam
Sad But True
Seek & Destroy
Hit the Lights
…And Justice for All
Until It Sleeps

The winners of this contest will be chosen by Metallica themselves and will receive musical equipment for their school, thanks to contributions from several sponsors.

Sweetwater
TAMA
Hal Leonard
KHS America
Tromana
Ernie Ball
Music for All
Bands of America

New to this year’s competition is that the 1st place Division 1 College winner will have the opportunity to record a Metallica song and the EA Sports College Football Theme Song, and have their recordings included in EA Sports College Football.

There will be seven prizes award to colleges across three categories:

Collegiate Division 1
- 1st place will be able to record songs as previously mentioned and will receive $50,000 in prizing
- 2nd place will receive $25,000 in prizing
- 3rd place will receive $10,000 in prizing
Collegiate Division 2 and 3
- 1st place will receive $40,000 in prizing
- 2nd place will receive $20,000 in prizing
- 3rd place will receive $10,000 in prizing
Fan Favorite – College
- 1st place only in all divisions will receive $10,000 in prizing

The collegiate video submissions were due by Nov. 1, and the fan voting period is from Nov. 4-30. Winners we be narrowed down to five finalists by professional high school judges and Metallica will select the final prize winners in each category.

Fan favorite winners will be the result of fan voting. Bands not wishing to compete for prizes were able to sign up to participate in the Showcase category. Those videos are featured on the contest submission page but will not be voted on by judges or fans.

The following nine schools are competing for the top spots in this year’s competition:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Augustana University
Bridgewater College
Colorado School of Mines
Indiana Wesleyan University
Riverside City College
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of South Carolina
Virginia Tech

The two schools taking part in the Showcase category are Southern Methodist University and the University of California, Berkeley.

To vote for your favorite collegiate performance of Metallica’s music, text the video hashtag to 833-609-0330. To view the Marching Illini’s performance, click here. To vote for them, text #ILLINOIS to the number above.