Nearly 60,000 fans packed the Georgia Dome this weekend to hear the eight bands taking part in the 9th annual Honda Battle of the Bands.

The Honda Battle of the Bands was created to celebrate, support and recognize the excellence of black college marching bands and the unique academic experience of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Honda annually awards more than $200,000 in grants to participating marching bands.

Participants in the 2011 Honda Battle of the Bands included the Albany State University’s “Marching Rams Show Band,” Tennessee State University’s “Aristocrat of Bands,” Virginia State University’s “Trojan Explosion Marching Band,” Clark Atlanta University’s “Mighty Marching Panthers,” Jackson State University’s “The Sonic Boom of the South,” Winston-Salem State University’s “Red Sea of Sound,” South Carolina State University’s “Marching 101,” and Bethune Cookman University’s “Marching Wildcats.”