This week, bands will perform at “nooner” concerts in the King Memorial Commons as part of NIU’s annual week-long Springfest.

Four bands will play this week: the NIU JazzTech Big Band on Monday; Park Avenue on Tuesday; Happy Hunting on Wednesday and Redline on Friday.

The first and second place winners at March’s Battle of the Bands won the opportunity to play at Springfest this year. The contest was sponsored by the NIU chapter of Pi Sigma Epsilon, a national business fraternity.

The Essentials, formerly The Big Picture, won first place and will perform at “Day in the Park.” Redline won second place at Battle of the Bands and will be featured this week.

Redline, formerly “What The,” broke up in spring 1988, said Jim Corno, the band’s guitarist. The band got back together in the fall of 1988, he said.

The group did not play many places in the fall semester because of some “bad luck,” said Jim Howatt, the band’s bass guitarist.

“This semester has been a lot better, and we have been getting more offers to play since placing second at the Battle of the Bands contest,” he said.

The group decided to get back together last semester with a “more serious approach” to their work, Howatt said.

“We knew it was going to be a lot of work, but we wanted a big payback,” Howatt said. The band has a lot of talent and is willing to work hard, he said.

Redline plays a variety of songs at their performances, Corno said.

“We play songs that other bands don’t play,” he said. The band members want to keep their act “fresh,” which includes playing some original songs and some rock classics, he said.

“Whatever we want to play, we play,” said Howatt.

Redline played at The Barn, located in Grant Towers North Thursday and at the Springfest Block Party ‘89, sponsored by Sigma Nu and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternities.

This summer, Redline will be going into the recording studio and will record some of their own songs, said Howatt.

The members of Redline will be returning students to NIU next year, but no thought has been given to what the band will do after the members graduate, said Corno.

Park Avenue, a rhythm and blues band, also will perform during the nooner concerts. The band has played in Chicago clubs and around the DeKalb area, said Jim Furillo, Campus Activity Board entertainment committee chairman.

Happy Hunting, also participating in Springfest, is known as a harder rock band, Furillo said. The band has played at clubs in the Chicago area, he said.

Rob Parton, leader of the NIU JazzTech Big Band, said the band plays “a wide variety of music” that combines jazz with modern music.