More than 50,000 Marching Band Fans Pack the Georgia Dome for Epic 12th Annual Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase

ImageATLANTA, Jan. 25, 2014  — Marching band fans from across the country poured intoAtlanta’s Georgia Dome on Saturday to celebrate the 12th annual Honda Battle of the Bands(HBOB) Invitational Showcase, and to witness firsthand the dynamic ensemble of music, choreography and showmanship displayed by eight of the nation’s premier Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) marching bands. Fans also experienced a live performance by Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist, Big Sean.

For three hours, marching band enthusiasts were treated to eight electric performances from Alabama A&M University Alabama State University, Bethune-Cookman UniversityMorehouse College, North Carolina A&T UniversitySouth Carolina State University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Winston-Salem State University. Big Sean wowed the crowd at half-time, with a half-hour performance of his hit singles. For the first time, fans participated in a text-to-vote selection of the “Fan Favorite” and the winner was North Carolina A&T University.

As a continuation of Honda’s 2013 “Best Yourself” campaign featuring Nick Cannon, three fans and their guests were awarded an all-expense paid trip to the 2014 Honda Battle of the Bands, plus the chance to win the newly launched 2014 Honda Civic. Finalists were chosen as part of the #HBOBfame contest, which asked contestants to showcase the talent of their choice in a 15-second Instagram video that best embodied this year’s Honda’s Battle of the Bands theme, “Best Yourself.” One lucky fan’s performance rose above the rest. Singer Antenica “Nica Nashae” Smith, of Kennesaw State University, drove away in an all-new 2014 Honda Civic.

“The Honda Battle of the Bands continues to support HBCU music education programs across the nation, while producing an entertaining show that never fails to get fans to their feet,” said Gina Jorge, head of Multicultural Marketing for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “We are honored to showcase this incredible musical talent, and are dedicated to sustaining music education at these institutions, through the grants awarded to each participating university.”

Widely known as “The Honda,” The Honda Battle of the Bands was created to celebrate, support and recognize the excellence of Black college marching bands and the unique academic experience offered by HBCUs. The participating eight marching bands each received a $20,000 grant for their school’s music education programs from Honda, along with an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta, to perform at the 2014 Invitational Showcase.

Fans can connect with the Honda Battle of the Bands by using the official hashtag, #HBOB, and via social media:

For photos and videos from 2014 Honda Battle of the Bands Invitational Showcase, visitwww.HondaBattleoftheBands.com.

About Honda 
American Honda Motor Co., Inc., was founded in 1959 as the U.S. sales and marketing subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd.  Honda currently produces automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, lawn mowers and engines at its eleven major U.S. manufacturing operations, using domestic and globally sourced parts. Honda’s long-standing commitment to the support and success of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities began more than 20 years ago with the creation of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, a program designed to showcase the academic gifts and prowess of HBCU students. Honda Battle of the Bands was established 12 years ago as an effort to support HBCU music programs.

SOURCE American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Enter your email address to follow this site and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 6,717 other subscribers
About Kerline K. Jules (686 Articles)
A native of Miami, Florida, Kerline Jules is one of South Florida’s leading young professionals and community leaders invested in public service and passionate about elevating the message of social and economic empowerment. Kerline believes a legacy of good intentions is no legacy at all; her very focus is on making sure that her life’s work makes an impact.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: