Editor's note: This is the fourth and final article in a series following finance senior Matt Martinez and his band as they prepared for this year's Battle of the Bands.

"That felt good."

The words Matt Martinez spoke after his first song could have summed up his entire night.

Fifteen minutes of music at the University Activities Board's fifth annual Battle of the Bands had the crowd confident — Martinez and his band deserved to win.

And when the votes were counted, victory was theirs.

The UAB-sponsored event brought more than 900 people to the International Center on Friday night to listen to music, dance and support friends and classmates.

Weeks of preparation for the battle paid off for Martinez and the rest of his band — guitarist Alex Vera, percussionist Jon Engstrom, bassist Dan Bartles, drummer Jimmy Holliday and percussionist Aaron Barndollar — as they collected a first-place title and a $1,500 cash prize.

The rock-sounding A Story Told finished in second and collected $1,000. The funk-rock band Egon won the third-place prize of $500. The prize money was donated by Marshall Music Co.

In addition to UAB, the Freshman Class Council, Marshall Music Co., Underground Printing and lansinglowdown.com also sponsored the event.

Normally calm and collected, Martinez said he felt the nerves intensify as he walked up to the stage. His band was third in a lineup of 11 that played Friday night.

As he arrived at the microphone, he invited fans to come up and join him in front of the stage, and within minutes, he had a crowd jumping around and cheering.

"You have to call people out," he said. "They were a little slow at first — nobody wants to be that first person. But the crowd was awesome. We pretty much had that front full."

The nerves quickly faded — and Martinez said he felt good during the entire performance.

"And now," he said afterward, "I want to play more."

Three quick songs and it was over. Martinez chose the lineup off the band's demo CD.

"We just try to pick the ones that we think work best for the venue that we're playing," he said.

Martinez and the rest of the band had no particular pre-show routine. In fact, they spent the day leading up to the competition relaxing and hanging out with one another.

"I woke up and had a bowl of Frosted Flakes," he said. "I think that was essential."

Luciano Pavarotti's "La Donna E Mobile" also served as a bit of inspiration before the show, Martinez said.

"We went into Jon's station wagon and listened to some opera," he said. "We listened to some of that, found our centers and just came out and played."

All joking aside, something must have worked right for the band, as it came out of the night $1,500 richer.

"I was shocked," Martinez said. "I felt like the later the night got, the better the music was. When they were announcing the second runner-up, I was super nervous, but as soon as they called Matt Martinez as the winner, I went nuts."

The band still didn't know just exactly what it wanted do with the money.

"Aaron, what would you buy with 300 bones?" Martinez asked Barndollar.

"Depends on what they've got," Barndollar replied.

Martinez laughed and said the money would most likely go to things he wouldn't normally spend his own money on.

"I would probably buy some strings," he said. "I just bought a new guitar last week, and I need a pick guard for that."

Matt Jick, one of the judges, said the students saw a great show with many talented bands, which made his job of judging extremely difficult.

"None of the bands sucked," Jick said. "Each band had their own personality and sound and brought it tonight."

As a judge, Jick said he focused on the musical talent and stage presence during the 15-minute performances.

For Jick, three bands stood out among the others.

"Personally, I'm a metal head. Paragon had a classic metal sound, and they were showmen on the stage," said Jick, a member of the band Stooge City Liberation Front. "The Red Cedar Rounders — it's not my style of music, but they are just good," Jick said of the bluegrass group.

"Last Man Standing — punk's not that popular in college right now. … Between those three, it was really hard to make a distinction."

Jick said he came away impressed with the number of people in attendance and the crowd interaction throughout the night.

"I haven't seen much support in the East Lansing music scene, so when I see a group like this, of students, out here tonight, I say, 'Go students!'" Jick said.

Although the battle is over, the shows must go on.

Martinez will continue to play in the Dearborn area, his hometown. The band also hopes to perform a Cinco de Mayo show there and is planning a Detroit show in late May.

Martinez said he doesn't expect to have any more free time now that Battle of the Bands has ended. When the band isn't rehearsing, he will be studying for finals. And when the demo CD comes out, he will have to fly to Los Angeles to talk with people in the music industry.

So where exactly is Martinez looking to go with his band?

"TRL," he said with a laugh.