Bobby Morton of Future Promotions (left) welcomes the Battle of the Bands team: Kevin Bottaro of CFB Windsor will MC the event, while Lisa Cochran of Mermaid Theatre and The Journal’s own Christy Marsters will judge the rockathon at the Windsor War Memorial Centre July 14.
Battle of the Bands to be major rockathon
BY NADINE ARMSTRONG
The Hants Journal
NovaNewsNow.com
The house will be rockin’ in Windsor July 14 during the first annual Battle of the Bands at the Hants War Memorial Centre. Presented by Future Promotions duo Bobby Morton and Matthew Wainman, the rockathon will pit six bands to see who’ll bring down the house.
The event will be hosted by Windsor’s own Kevin Bottaro of CFAB and judged by none other than The Journal’s Christy Marsters with Lisa Cochran of Mermaid Theatre.
This is the first major event for Future Promotions, which has planned events at Ryan Duffie's in Halifax. The group hopes also to host a road hockey tournament in Windsor this fall and some youth dances as well.
“We like to focus more on the music, but we basically plan any kind of event,” said Morton, who acts as the company’s Windsor rep.
Morton was once bass guitarist for Sporadically Placed until it disbanded as members left for university and went in different directions. Although he no longer plays, he admits to missing the music scene.
Extra push for a new generation
He says the reason for hosting the event is to give that extra push to the next generation of young, up-and-coming rockers. “I love it when shy members of the bands who wouldn't normally speak in front of a few hundred people get up there on stage screaming and shouting. That’s what I like to see,” he said.
The bands that will compete for the title that evening are Alice Stops Time; Distracted Action; Moment of Truth; Splynter; Taken; Bankrupt; and Simons Funk Garden.
Morton said performing is par for the course for bands like Alice, which is booked for the entire summer, but for other recently formed groups like Distracted Action, this will be their debut concert.
The music for the most part is geared toward a younger audience, but Morton hopes to see some die-hard older rock fans voting for their favourite as well. There won't be a bar at the event, but he hopes that won't deter the over-19 crowd.
“We didn't want to complicate things too much,” he said. “It’s really about the music and having fun.”
First prize will include a trophy, a $400 cash award, a free concert promotion and, of course, the title of top new rockers.
Doors open at 6:30 and tickets are available at Moe's Place and Dooley's in Windsor.
