The online voting phase is over and the first judging round begins with live performances scheduled at The Hard Rock in Orlando. The first qualifying battle is February 18 and features live music from Orlando bands The Jonnie Morgan Band, Empire Theory, Leaving Haven and Blaine the Mono.
In a recent email interview, Chris Culverwell, bassist for Orlando band Blaine the Mono, talks about how hard the band worked to get votes in order to move on to this next phase of the competition. “Voting was stressful for us but we took numerous approaches. We made images, videos, and we even gave away free CDs to people at our last show that would log in and vote from our laptop. We managed to pull it off and now we have to prove ourselves on stage. We’d love to win and move on but, right now we’re just excited to play at Hard Rock Live.”
Fan reaction counts as part of a band’s score for these events so it’s important that supporters of each band show up in impressive numbers and cheer on their favorite Orlando band. The break down for judging this phase of the competition is musicianship 30%, Voice talent 20%, Originality 20%, stage presence 20% and fan reaction/appeal 10%.
The other qualifying battles are scheduled for February 25 and March 3, before the final battle on March 12. The line-up for the February 25 show includes Orlando area bands Stiletto Red, ReaGan Smash, Sonic Explosion and Eastwind. The March 3 show features Orlando bands Bloody Jug Band, nuERA, Black Tent Revival and Flows Like Wine.
The qualifying battles are FREE all ages shows. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the music starts at 8 p.m. The Orlando Hard Rock is located at 6050 Universal Boulevard in Orlando.
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