The Revelstoke Music Festival returns this weekend, with 11 bands performing over the course of two nights as well as a battle-of-the-bands competition Saturday afternoon.
The Sheepdogs, finalists in Rolling Stone magazine's Choose the Cover contest, are the big draw Friday night. Shane Philip, who stole the show last year headlines on Saturday night. The complete schedule is as follows:
Fri June 24
Maritime Kitchen Party 6-7 p.m.
Jodi Pederson 7-8 p.m.
Jesse Dee & Jaquie B 8-9 p.m.
Redeye Empire 9-10 p.m.
Scott Cook & The Long Weekends 10-11:30 p.m.
The Sheepdogs 11:30-1:00 p.m.
Sat June 25
Children’s Family Day: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Battle of the Bands: 12-6 p.m.
Faye Blais: 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Jungal: 8-9 p.m.
Paul Black 9-10:30 p.m.
Blind Spot 10:30-11:30 p.m.
Shane Philip 11:30-1:00 p.m.
Six bands primed to battle for Revelstoke’s heart - Revelstoke Music Fest hosts first Battle of the Bands
Up-and-coming local musical performers will battle it out to be named the best band in Revelstoke at Revelstoke Music Fest this weekend.
Organizers are hosting their first ever Battle of the Bands competition on Saturday from about 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“Revelstoke and surrounding areas has an amazing group of musicians and artists alike, so it’s nice that we can give them a place to showcase that,” says Wanetta Stroo, who’s helping organize the event.
Aside from bragging rights, contestants will compete for a prize pack including 16 hours of recording time at Big Audio Productions in Kelowna, a live performance on the Astral Media radio station in Vernon and a spot on stage at Revelstoke Music Fest in 2012.
Judges for the event are Sister Girl singer Joanne Stacey, Bob Gablehouse from Big Audio Productions and Patrick Ryley from Astral Media.
The judging format is based on categories including originality, stage presence, technical ability and musicianship. They’ll also be judged on crowd response, so be sure to come out and whoop it up for your favourite.
Each band will play a 30-minute set. They’ll use a universal drum kit to cut down turnover time between bands.
There are six confirmed contestants, with two others wavering. Confirmed performers are:
- The Sugar Coated Killers, a glam-rock band from Kelowna
- Casimir Funk, a young Nelson-based funk and R&B act. Incidentally, they’re named after the Polish biochemist who formulated the concept of vitamins.
- City of Sparks, an alternative indie-rock band
- Caldera, a local youth-rock band
- Bon St. Jon, a Revelstoke-based hard rock band
- The Sofa Kings, a groovy, funky Latin and jazz influenced band (with a splash of innuendo) from Revelstoke.
“It’s nice to see something for the bands,” Stroo says of the competition. “We have quite an eclectic mix of musicians in the first battle and I think it will be great. Come out and support them so that we’ll encourage people to come back year after year.”