WXVU hosted a battle of the bands between Villanova and Haverford at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore and raised over $500 for Students Taking Action Now: Darfur on March 28. Almost packed to capacity, students watched their peers compete to win the battle and receive free recording time from Milkboy’s recording studio.

Representing Villanova were four bands: The Bot Flies, an eccentric upbeat indie quintet; The Beans, a band with deep influences from classic rock with undertones of blues and funk; The Keith Jones Trio, a band with an enthusiastic, warm, multi-layered acoustic sound; and Foreshadows, an alternative group with emotional lyrics, which describe itself as having “ambience with an edge.”

Coming in from Haverford were The Joe Boys with an acoustic harmonious sound and the Snake River Boogie Band, a group with a bluesy, classic rock-oriented feel, driven by keyboards, blues guitar solos and a soulful lead singer.

The winners were chosen half by audience vote and half by a panel of judges representing Villanova (Brigid Judge, WXVU general manager), Haverford (Duncan Cooper, Federation of The United Concert Series), Milkboy (Joel Metzler, assistant sound engineer) and STAND (Jessica Morales, Mid-Atlantic regional outreach coordinator). The Snake River Boogie Band took first place, receiving five hours of free recording time, followed by The Beans with three hours and The Keith Jones Trio with two.

WXVU isn’t done hosting events yet, either. This year marks WXVU’s 60th year of continuous broadcasting, and in celebration, it has declared the week of April 16 WXVU Week. Villanova began broadcasting sometime early in the century, but stopped when the Great Depression began.

However, Villanova students started broadcasting again on the AM band in 1947 and have continued in various forms since. 1991 marked the birth of the call letters WXVU (prior to that, the station was known as WKVU), broadcasting on the FM band 89.1, sharing it with Cabrini College’s station, WYBF.

In order to celebrate Villanova radio’s livelihood, WXVU has planned a series of events for the upcoming week.

On Monday, WXVU will be by the Oreo, playing music and giving away various WXVU paraphernalia. On Tuesday, WXVU will be hosting a music video night (location to be announced), where students can actually choose which videos are shown. Wednesday night marks the first of two major events, WXVU’s second annual Freestyle Battle (sponsored by Milkboy Coffee/Milkboy Recording) hosted by Will Sheridan, in which members of the Villanova community will freestyle rap competitively.

With the event being packed to capacity last year, WXVU executive board member and prominent DJ, AJ Zampella, says, “The freestyle battle was a huge success last year, and I think it will be even bigger and better this year.”

Tickets will be $1 and are expected to sell out.

Next Thursday will be WXVU’s open house, and members of the Villanova community can visit the station in 210 Dougherty Hall from noon to 7 p.m.

Friday is WXVU’s second largest event, a Late Nite concert in Belle Aire Terrace featuring Crime in Stereo and The Agent, both Long Island-based punk/hardcore bands. The show will start at 8 p.m. and is free. For more information on WXVU and any of its events, check out its Web site, wxvufm.com, the Wildcat Newswire or flyers around campus.