The United Way of Porter County's Power of Youth Council will be hosting a county-wide high school Battle of the Bands at Valparaiso University's ARC on February 20th, 2010 to raise funds and awareness of the increasing teen drug and alcohol abuse problem. 
The bands that will be playing in the 2010 Porter County Battle of the Bands are: The Getbacks from Chesterton; The Luke Situation from Chesterton; ISTANDBROKEN from Valparaiso; The Blackwinglair from Kouts; The Vultress from Portage; Skyline Savior from Morgan; The Escape Artists from Boone Grove; Riot of Reason from Wheeler and The Salty Catfish from Boone Grove.
This battle is all about youth taking a leadership role in Porter County. No one is immune to the issues we face; it’s how you approach them, the choices you make and how you overcome them. They hope this battle will not only bring our county together but shed light on the issue and provide alternatives. Ethan Joll from ISTANDBROKEN states, "The Power of Youth is a great organization and we are so glad to be a part of their movement towards a brighter future for the youth of Indiana. Drugs are a big problem in our society today and every effort made by PCPOY is a step in the right direction. We are excited to contribute to their cause through our music and we hope that the Battle of the Bands can help in raising funds for the organization and informing people of the dangers of illegal substances." Bob Johnson, bassist for The Getbacks is also excited about performing:"We are excited to represent Chesterton and we hope to get far, this is one of our first gigs and we hope everyone comes out to see it." The members of Vultress are looking forward to the performance, as many battle of the bands competitions have been cancelled. "I personally was disappointed to see some schools discontinue the annual battles, so I was glad to see they are still alive in Valpo," states Paul Uhrina, drummer and frontman for the band.
The Power of Youth Council's goal is to raise funds which will be given to youth-serving programs in Porter County that focus on prevention and early treatment of teen substance abuse.
The Battle of the Bands is being sponsored in part by the United Way of Porter County, Porter-Starke Services, Inc., Livemercial, The Porter County Sheriff's Department, Transient Media, Willowtree Recording Studio and Seismic Sound.
Further sponsorship is available. For more information on how you can participate go to: http://www.unitedwaypc.org/programs/power-of-youth or you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace at /pcpoy.