WZND and The Castle Theater host 2nd annual Battle of the Bands
Written by Giavana Escobedo on November 9, 2025
NORMAL, Ill. – The Castle Theater partnered with WZND to host Battle of the Bands on Thursday, Nov. 6th.
Battle of the Bands featured seven local bands for live performances of their music. The bands featured were Backlot, PTO, Dollhouse, Miley Cypress Hill, No Outlet, Lady Strange and Scarlet’s Darling.
Band representative Giovanni Pacotti-Long and lead guitarist Pete Schwindenhammer of No Outlet shared how long they’ve been performing, the artists who inspire them, and what they hope to gain from Battle of the Bands.
No Outlet has been playing for about two to three years in the Normal and Peoria areas.
“When we started playing together as a band, that was when we started going to local shows in Peoria,” Pacotti-Long said.
With Pacotti-Long being in charge of social media and communicating with the Castle Theater, No Outlet also consists of a rhythm guitarist and vocalist named Clay, and another vocalist and bass guitarist named Molly, alongside Schwindenhammer, their lead guitarist.
While the music they play is typically punk and alternative rock, No Outlet gets a lot of their musical inspiration from the Peoria music scene.
“I would say it’s less of a specific band inspiration and more of the Peoria music scene in general and all of the people who are in it,” Pacotti-Long said. “Being as tight knit as it is, we got a lot of help from them.”
No Outlet is hoping to get a fun experience and more exposure out of playing at Battle of the Bands.
“We’re just hoping to have fun and play in front of people,” Pacotti-Long said. “We hope more people want to get interested in our music, but it’s more so we’re doing it because we want to for enjoyment.”
Battle of the Bands took place on Nov. 6th, at the Castle Theater in Bloomington.
