Over the summer, a Battle of the Bands was held, and was so successful, they held another one this fall. It was on November 5th at The Gateway Pub & Grill in Hickory. The event was organized by Devante Thomas, and he did a killer job. They had 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for $300, $200 and $100, respectively.
The bands that attended were:
- Dylan Cox
- Peoplewire Collective
- Nine & Pocket Change
- Look-N-Back
- Hobe Jamz
- The Plan
- Fury 58
- Hightower
- The Never B’s
- Hella Stellar
- Kottonmouth
- Bhava
- Fire-Bone
- Nosey Neighbor
WHAT! I’m so pleasantly surprised. Every genre was present. I expected it to be a little more linear, I suppose, due to our location, but the lineup was perfect. Literally, a little bit of everything. Solo musicians, country bands, rock and roll, hardcore, metal, you name it, they were here. And GOOD too!! I enjoyed listening to everyone that played, regardless of my predisposition.
The bands were welcome to bring their own amps, but overall, the same sound system was used for each band. With that, you have less room for error. Good call on the sound guys, I say. Especially for a competition. I understand that some bands wanted to use so much more of their own equipment, and I don’t blame them. It’s hard to use someone else’s setup when you KNOW yours, and you’re USED to yours and the sound that IT puts out. But with as many groups that were present, it kept things moving along very smoothly.
Sooo… I was totally shocked at the audience, I gotta say. The Gateway was PACKED!!! They were ALL there to hang out and listen to the wide array of music! I was thrilled to see that many people open to such a variety. They were an energetic group with awesome energy! That tends to be the crowd I prefer to see as a viewer, though. Some might want a very tame audience, but not me. I wanna see you dance, and in this group, no one was too good to move!!! 🤘🏻
On the other hand, people who are feeling it, caaaan also tend towards aggression, and that’s what I’m NOT down for. Don’t start fights, guys. That’s too much.
The Gateway seemed to have zero tolerance for that type of behavior, which is good. Let’s just keep it lively, and enjoy the tunes.
They held a few raffles in honor of RB Byerly recently passing away. Proceeds were donated to his family. They raffled a Schecter Stiletto Stealth(sweet bass, by the way), a $100 gift card to Guitar Center and a 50/50 pot.
The Guitar Center Studio also attended the event, separately, raffling off a month of lessons for instruments or technology of your choice.
Seriously, great event. I can’t wait for the next one. Here’s to Battle of the Bands III! 🍻
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