Six bands faced off in an all-out battle to the death to raise money April 8.

The Battle of the Bands organized by the Neuroscience Students Association (NSA) gave cash prizes to winners chosen based on technical aspects, stage presence and crowd applause.

Sonal Goswami, junior neuroscience and psychology major and president of the NSA, said the concert was a fundraiser to assist NSA members in attending the annual Society for Neuroscience conference that will be held in San Diego next year.

“The funds that we get through this concert are going to contribute towards helping our members that have the heart but don’t have the money to go to this conference,” Goswami said.

The event drew about 140 people from UTD and the Dallas area. Six local bands competed and were judged by a panel of three judges. Taking first prize in the competition was the band Crowded Stars, with Demp and Johmbi placing second and third, respectively.

The judges were all students at UTD and came from various backgrounds and qualifications. They included jazz pianist Ryan Eldridge, record company intern Albert Smith, and SUAAB Pub chair Jonathan “Gno” White.

“It’s pretty phenomenal that clubs can organize and get involved like this and actually bring some culture to this campus, because this campus has been kind of lacking in that recent,” said Vikram Patel, senior physics and math major.

This phenomenon was observed by students after the first band finished their set. “Frankly I was suspecting more from the crowd. [System Overload] was alright but it’s depressing that no one’s getting into it,” said Tony Cross, freshman arts and technology major.

“I think it’s rather interesting that this is the Neuroscience Association and not any other club,” said Patel. “It’s just really cool that they were able to get bands of this quality here.”