Beer and bragging rights are at stake at the New Belgium/Minstrel Studios Battle of the Bands Finals.

The showdown approaches as four Iowa City bands prepare for the final round of competition, hosted at the Yacht Club, 13 S. Linn. The local acts will throw down every last drop of musical energy to see which possesses the musical chops worthy of a week’s worth of studio time at Minstrel Studios, 130 Lafayette St. Competitors will also see who can hold back just enough to claim the second place prize — a free keg of New Belgium Fat Tire beer and a day of studio time.

The battle will begin at 8 p.m. today at the Yacht Club. Admission is $5. Competing bands are Bold City Lights, Get V, 5 in a Hand, and Nifty Mountain PowWow.

“It’s a pretty good mix of bands,” Yacht Club manager Pete McCarthy said. “There are a lot of different genres represented.”

The remaining bands each won a preliminary battle in September, when four to five bands competed each night. The audience was the sole judge for which act claimed glory, and the voting system was entirely democratic — just as it will be tonight.

Nifty Mountain PowWow is a four-piece fusion band from Iowa City.

“Nifty Mountain PowWow kind of represents the jam-band genre that’s pretty popular at our place,” McCarthy said.

5 in a Hand won the Summer Camp and Camp Euforia battles already this year, and it was named Iowa Jam Band Society’s Band of the Month in May. Get V had just four practices as a band before its victory in the preliminary battle, and it is what McCarthy calls a “kind of poppy, solid indie band.”

Bold City Lights has been playing since May. The five-piece band won over the most votes out of all of the bands in September, so it will claim the “headlining” time slot on the battle roster.

— by Ryan Fosmark