TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Fairgrounds Is The Venue For Local Bands' Battle

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

Seven local garage bands will lay it on the line tonight, kicking out the jams for respect and cash at the Pasco County Fair's first battle of the bands.

"It's something new. It's something different," said Brad Ash, the Pasco County High School teacher behind the Rockstock Battle of the Bands.

Friday night, the fairgrounds' rodeo arena will belong to the bull riders, but the guitar heroes will reign tonight.

Some of the musicians are older and established, and others still aren't out of high school, Ash said. All of the bands are unsigned and count at least one Pasco County resident as a member.

The bands will compete for cash prizes and gift certificates to Sam Ash Music Stores, with the winner taking home $500 and a $100 gift certificate.

The show, which is included with gate admission, starts at 6 p.m. in the rodeo arena and should last about three hours. Here's what you need to know about the bands:

Circle of Thieves

Mix together the old school sounds of Metallica, Kiss and Black Sabbath with contemporary hard-rockers such as Saliva and Godsmack, and you'll end up with something that sounds like Circle of Thieves. Formed last year, Circle of Thieves prides itself on "fast-paced, high-powered energy and audience-driven shows" and pushing the limits of hard rock, metal and alternative music. Look for the band's first full-length CD in May.

Online: www.myspace.com/ acircleofthieves

Driftline

If you had to take your parents to one of these shows, this would be the one. That's not a knock, just an indication of how different Driftline sounds from the other bands on the bill. The Dade City acoustic trio - singer Ricky Tessaro, guitarist and piano man Chris Caruana, and drummer and percussionist Ashlee Hamory - say they sound like "ambience" and list Staind, Incubus, Chevelle, Breaking Benjamin and A Perfect Circle as influences.

Online: www.myspace.com/ driftlinemusic

Lamenting Lavinia

This Dade City trio formed last month "as a New Year's Resolution to make awesome music."

The band's MySpace page describes it as "a band with no niche, genre, or label - only dirge songs sung for Lavinia and others such as her; Lamenting Lavinia makes music to make music and not appeal to a scene."

Wow. And how do you not love a band that includes a quote from "Titus Andronicus" on its site?

Online: www.myspace.com/ lamentinglavinia

Plague of Theory

Maybe you've heard of Southern Culture on the Skids or the Dirty South, but are you ready for Southern Heavy Metal? That's how Dade City's Plague of Theory describes its style, a new genre full of "bone crunching verse riffs and very uplifting and majestic sounding choruses."

"It doesn't sound like your old Skynyrd collection at all. It's very in your face and fast-paced," lead guitarist Jon Hendricks says.

Online: www.myspace.com/plagueoftheory.

Three Foot Fall

"Screamo" and libraries are an unusual combination, but somehow Three Foot Fall makes it work. Formed in 2006, the Zephyrhills-based band brings its post-hardcore/screamo/alternative/rock music to venues of all kinds. Between gigs, the foursome - lead guitarist Josh Barter, drummer Ethan Murphy, singer/rhythm guitarist Ian Sisk and bassist Daryl Gibson - is writing music for a new CD and planning a first-ever tour of Florida.

Online: www.myspace.com/ threefootfall.

Vent

Vent, an alternative rock band, likens its music to the human body. The drums are the heart, the bass is the pulse, the rhythm and lead guitars are the blood and the veins, and the voice is the brain. They combine into emotional musical expression, which the band uses to raise funds for local charity organizations. Vent is working on its first self-recorded album.

Online: www.myspace.com/ timetovent.

Xerocks

Formed at a New Port Richey church in 2007, Xerocks is about bringing positive Christian messages to the heavy metal scene. You can catch the Hudson-based Christian rock/heavy metal band at local churches and charity events. And with band members in their teens through middle age and a target audience of "8 to 108," Xerocks tries to offer something for everyone who digs "positive music with great story lines that rock."

Online: www.myspace.com/ xerocksband.

Jeff Scullin and Lindsey Schauer
PASCO COUNTY FAIR
Today's schedule

3 p.m.: Gates and exhibits open.

4 p.m.: Midway opens.

4 to 9 p.m.: Rock-It the Robot and Fritzy Brothers, one-man circus, strolling fairgrounds

4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.: Blaszak Tigers, Agricultural Stage

5, 7:30 and 9 p.m.: T. Texas Terry, comedy cowboy, Clayton Way Stage

5 and 8 p.m.: The Lewis Family and Southern Star Bluegrass Band, Dan Cannon Auditorium (free with gate admission)

5:30, 7 and 8:30 p.m.: Fritzy Brothers, Back Porch Theatre

5:30 and 9:30 p.m.: Fearless Flores Thrill Show, Kiddy Land

6 p.m.: Rockstock Battle of the Bands, Rodeo Arena Stage

6 p.m.: Youth steer show, Albert A. Barthle Livestock Pavilion

6:15 and 7:45 p.m.: Ron Diamond, magic and illusion show, Back Porch Theatre

9:15 p.m.: Ron Diamond, hypnosis and comedy show, Back Porch Theatre

10 p.m.: Exhibits close.

11 p.m.: Midway closes.

Keyword: Pasco Fair Photos, to view photos from the Pasco County Fair and share your own. Keyword: Pasco Fair Photos, to view photos from the Pasco County Fair and share your own.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT