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NIGHTLIFE
Rock Battle On
A.C.’s Hard Rock Café joins in an international battle-of-the-bands contest in which the winner will open for Springsteen in London. By Ray Schweibert
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Artist Bios, Bookings & Ratings acweekly.com/localmusic
nowing that exceptional
ability is not always enough, and that everyone needs an occasional nudge to achieve that ultimate goal, online promotional potentate Reverbnation and the globally recognized hard Rock international have teamed up to give local musicians the chance of a lifetime. in January hundreds of musicians registered (free) to compete in a series of battle-of-the-bands competitions hosted by 87 participating hard Rock cafés around the world. the field was first narrowed by fan voting on a specially created Facebook page. Dubbed “hard Rock Rising,” the a.c. hard Rock has 12 bands/solo artists competing on four Friday nights, 9pm-1am, starting Feb. 24. Ultimately the field is whittled to three finalists worldwide, with the grand prize being an allexpense paid trip to london for the 7th annual Hard Rock Calling music festival July 13-15. the winning band/artist will be on the bill with this year’s headliner — Bruce Springsteen and the e Street Band. the runner-up and third-place winners will get $5,000 and $2,500, respectively. “From day one here at Reverb we’ve been all about the artist, and opportunities like hard Rock Rising extend that mission exponentially,” says Mike Doernberg, Reverbnation ceo and co-founder. one of the bands performing in a.c. is the south Jersey-based foursome Forsaken entity, comprised of vocalist/keyboardist lana Foster, guitarist Joey “Jt” trantas, bassist Vince Foster and drummer Dan “Mazz” Mazurek. trantas and Mazurek have performed together for years, joining the Fosters in January 2011 when the couple relocated from Michigan. “we hit it off with them right from our first practice together,” says trantas, who connected with the Fosters through the internet. “Vince and lana had a more orchestrated feel to their music and me and Mazz were from the heavier side of things, so we started to rewrite our songs to fit both styles. ... we’re looking [to the a.c. gig] as a great opportunity for exposure, which is what every band is striving for. in this industry it’s hard for local original bands to get noticed and further their careers, so an opportunity like this means a lot to us.” the northeast philly-based tried & true made the initial cut when their song “tonic & gin” was among the most downloaded on the hard Rock Facebook page. they’ll likely perform that song and other originals from a cD they produced called trials & Tribulations, but the quintet is still working on the 20-minute set list for its first-ever a.c. appearance. “we’re real excited to be playing in atlantic city,” says bassist/vocalist Joe Bojko, who’s joined by lead vocalist Ricky Sides, drummer larry iaccio, guitarist John Breslin and multiinstrumentalist Damien turchi. “You really get into the atmosphere that surrounds you [at hard Rock cafés]. we can’t wait. this gig, along with
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Platinum Mustache one coming up at the wells Fargo center in June [prior to a philadelphia Soul arena football game] will be among the best shows we’ve ever performed.” the six-man south Jersey band Kid Felix will also be making its a.c. debut, and will be performing its original numbers “lost at Sea,” “Unglued,” “class action,” “Satisfaction” and “once Upon a genghis Khan.” the band includes lead vocalist Jake Falana, lead guitarist John ambrutis, rhythm guitarist Brett hagan, bassist Julian Ungerer, keyboardist Ken Baxter and drummer John Szachewicz. Solo artist priscilla paige, from levittown, pa., is a singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist whose song “lost in the Rhythm” was the top votegetter in the initial elimination phase. one of her songs was chosen as part of the new DirectV series Gone Until December, which debuts this summer. “i’m absolutely looking forward to performing and sharing the stage with many other talented bands,” says paige. “i love performing, and have devoted most of my time into my music and getting my name out there.” also competing is the five-man band platinum Mustache — a merger of a south Jersey-based R&B/soul group fronted by vocalist aaron Bliss, and a rock/hip-hop band from harlem, new York, fronted by powda Valdez. currently based in philly, the group also includes bassist carter Fox, drummer asher Murray and lead guitarist nick Seditious. they play a fusion of rock, soul, pop, hip-hop and funk. “we are a truly unique band that has a style and sound all our own,” says Bliss. “we’re currently working with David ivory, a grammywinning producer and engineer, and just released our single ‘Situations’ on the indie label Flexitone Records.” other bands competing are alpha centura, Jae, citadel, Rachel ann, eoS, Katy Vona, and haze po. For more info, go to hardrock.com. n
HEADLINERS
Hard Rock Battle of the Bands
Where: Hard rock Café, Taj Mahal, a.C. When: battle #1, Fri., Feb. 24, 9pm-1am; battle #2, Fri., March 9, 9pm-1am; battle #3, Fri., March 16, 9pm-1am; final battle: Fri., March 30, 9pm-1am.
HEADLINERS
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