KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2010 / NEWS / 3A
BANDS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
full of great talent and he was glad he didn't have to single-handedly pick the winner. This year was no different.
Will Nots won this year's prize,
which totaled more than $1,000 in value and included a package of three music videos with Musicians Network.
Will Nots also received a $200 gift card to Mass. Street Music and a package of 35 T-shirts from Blue Collar Press.
"We had a lot of people that came both nights to support us," Tyler Francis said. "It feels really good."
Francis, a local producer and one of the initial members of Will Nots, said he has followed Farmer's Ball since he was in junior high. He said
it let him get to know more about the artists that he looked up to in the community.
"Now I can hopefully be one of those guys that kids can dig on and hopefully aspire to be in their own Farmer's Ball." Francis said before entering the competition.
Will Nots is a Lawrence band made up of five men who grew up around Farmer's Ball. A self-proclaimed boogie and soul group, the Will Nots have performed as the back-up band to Approach, a local hip-hop artist.
Radar Defender, Cherry Tree Parade, I Heard A Lion, Reward Tree, Elevator Will Nots, This Past Winter, and Morris Mars all brought different styles of music to this truly
eclectic battle of the bands.
Despite the obvious desire of winning, many of the bands were happy to simply perform in front of a new crowd. Scott Burr, a senior from Topeka and member of the competing band Radar Defender, is glad to give his recently formed band a chance to perform.
"We're just excited to play in front of a large group of people that may not have normally come to our shows," Burr said.
Radar Defender was one of the four bands to make it to Friday's final round. At 10 p.m., the band performed first for a slowly building crowd. The rain controlled the influx of people from the street which created an atmosphere of quiet competitiveness. The energy had to come from the band, and the Farmer's Ball format endorsed that energy.
"It encourages people to step up their game because they are competing." Burr said.
As both nights progressed, the crowd filled the area around the stage. Made up of friends and fans of the bands and bar patrons, the crowd had to make the ultimate decision Friday night. When asked to vote for their two favorite bands at the end of the night, the crowd made it clear that Will Nots were deserving of the title they were hoping for: 2010 Farmer's Ball battle of the bands champions.
Edited by Kelsey Nill
NATIONAL
Pair goes on trial today for gruesome murder
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MONT VERNON, N.H. — "We're about to do the most evil thing this town has ever seen."
Murder defendant Steven Spader is said to have uttered those words as he and three other teens allegedly drove to a house they had
targeted in this town of 2,000 to burglarize it and kill its occupants for the thrill of it.
reawakening the brutal crime that longtime resident and state Rep. Linda Foster said "ripped at the heart and soul of a sweet little New England town."
"I don't think you ever get over it, but I think the trial just means everything will get stirred up again," said Susan King Ecklund as she
Spader's trial begins today, and jurors were put on notice
"They killed my mommy."
JAIMIE CATES
Murder-attempt survivor
during selection that they would see graphic photos of the victims and may hear from survivor Jamie Cates, now 12. They were prepared for attorneys on the other side not to even put on their own witnesses.
Many potential jurors were disqualified after saying they were sure Spader was guilty, or were terrified by the crime and the prospect of viewing the evidence. Some said they would be skeptical if Spader's lawyers did not put on evidence of their own.
In Mont Vernon, the trial is
and other volunteers planted bulbs in front of the fire station last week. "It just rocks everybody."
The intruders cut power to the contemporary ranch-style home before dawn Oct. 4, 2009. Once inside, they used an iPod taken from Jaimie Cates' room to illuminate their path to the master bedroom, where Jaimie and her mother, 42-year-old Kimberly Cates, slept. Jaimie's father, David Cates, was away on a business trip.
Prosecutors say Spader, then 17, and Christopher Gribble, then 19, hacked mother and daughter with a machete and a knife, killing Kimberly and severely wounding Jaime. The girl survived by feigning death as her assailants continued to slash and kick her, she told police.
Jaime, who had achieved a black belt in karate just four months earlier, called police from a cell phone and was still conscious when Milford Sgt. Kevin Furlong arrived at the house.
"They killed my Mommy," she told him, according to a state police affidavit.
Two other teens in the house at the time, William Marks and Quinn Glover, have reached plea agreements and are expected to
ANDERSON CHANDLER LECTURE SERIES
It was Marks who wrote a friend from prison about Spader's alleged "most evil thing" statement en route to the house, and a prosecutor quoted the letter during Marks' plea hearing.
David and Jaimie Cates still live at the house, but the facade is different. A woman who answered the door last week said no one wanted to speak to a reporter.
testify against Spader. Prosecutors say they witnessed but did not take part in the attacks. Gribble is set to go to trial in February.
Read more about the winning band at kansan.com
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