After whittling down from 906 entries, 7-Eleven has selected the top twelve bands to compete in their Slurpee Battle of the Bands Contest.
Among the top twelve are two local groups -- Don't Shoot the Messenger from Arlington, and News Team Assemble from Dallas. Don't feel bad, we haven't heard of them either -- but we might on August 6, when they might open for our current rap crush B.O.B.
We say they might, because the press release sent by 7-Eleven and Slurpee (is there a difference?) doesn't really make it clear which of the bands will perform where. Plus, there's some complex methods to actually vote for the bands. All of it is just giving us a brain freeze -- maybe you'll understand it:
Twelve from a field of 906 home-grown rock and popular bands have been named the most deserving performers and will compete in this year's 7-Eleven and Slurpee Battle of the Bands (BOTB) contest that kicks off July 11 (7-Eleven stores' recognized birthday).
Starting Sunday, the musical groups will begin showcasing their talents and competing for semi-finalist status at four regional concerts. The first takes place Sunday at 7 p.m. PT in Los Angeles at The House of Blues on Sunset Strip where three of the bands will open for a performance by Train, the Grammy Award-winning rock group from San Francisco.
The other venues where the remaining BOTB competitors contend in groups of three with each playing three songs are:
-- Chicago - July 23 at 7 p.m. CT at The House of Blues in Chicago -leading up to music by All Time Low, an American pop punk band from Baltimore
-- Dallas - Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. CT at The House of Blues in Dallas - before a performance by B.o.B., an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer from Atlanta
-- New York - Aug. 16 at 8 p.m. ET at Irving Plaza in New York - opening for N.E.R.D., a genre-bending alternative hip hop group from Virginia, fronted by Pharrell Williams
Fans can view all performances live online on Slurpee's Facebook fanpage, then vote at Slurpee.com for their favorite band for three days immediately after each event. Also, one song from each competing band's performance will be posted on Slurpee.com. The group with the winning votes from each of the four events will continue on to the next round of competition.
Four semi-finalist bands will travel to Dallas where they will each have three days to create music videos with amateur video crews. Their music videos will be shown on Slurpee.com. Again, fans will vote for their favorite music videos. The two winners from this challenge will battle it out when each performs a special engagement in their respective home towns. Live video of their performances will be streamed on the Slurpee Facebook fanpage. Fan votes will be collected over two days and the winner will be announced on Sept. 30 on Slurpee.com.
The top band will receive the grand prize of $10,000 and a chance to record in-studio and be featured on Wolfgangsvault.com.
Concert event tickets are on sale through Live Nation for $7.11. Tickets for the Train and All Time Low concerts are on sale now; B.o.B. performance tickets go on sale July 9, and the start of N.E.R.D. concert ticket sales is not yet determined.
The current top 12 bands competing for the "Slurpee Battle of the Bands" title and the grand prize along with their hometowns are:
-- Ambience, San Jose, CA
-- Burning Tree, St. Petersburg, FL
-- Don't Shoot The Messenger, Arlington, TX
-- Fancy Me Yet , Miami, FL
-- Levi Ware, Seattle, WA
-- News Team Assemble, Dallas, TX
-- Northpilot, Chicago, IL
-- Not Like This, Saint Paul, MN
-- Talain Rayne, Phoenixville, PA
-- The Banana Convention, Saginaw, MI
-- The Hollabacks, Los Angeles, CA
-- The Welcome Home, Portland, OR
"Slurpee and music have a natural affinity for each other," said Evan Brody, 7-Eleven marketing manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp® brands. "They're such a big part of summer fun for teens and young adults, whether it's stadium concerts, music festivals or just blasting your radio with the top down. "
"We've had Slurpee summer music promotions before, but last year's Battle of the Bands really struck a chord," he added. "The number of entries in this year's contest just exploded, and it's going to be an exciting summer for music fans to discover new bands."
