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Pasco Battle Of Bands Goes Global

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By SHERRI LONON

In The Loop

Published: March 19, 2009

The eyes of the world are on Pasco County as seven local musical groups prepare for a showdown in Rockus Maximus Retro Battle of the Bands XII. The two-part competition includes an online portion and a live concert; both end Friday when the acts go into the spotlight at Crews Lake Park.

It's the online portion of the annual production that has the contest's creators at the Pasco County Library System in awe.

Votes for the winner of the online event have been coming in from around the world and - "every state, including Alaska and Hawaii," said Paul Stonebridge, teen librarian at the Land O' Lakes Branch Library. Some of the tallied votes have come from as far away as Poland, Kuwait, Iraq and New Zealand. Stonebridge said there even has been attention from Iceland and the Netherlands, and "we had a cruise ship and unspecified military base."
Stonebridge credits the bands for creating such a buzz about the online contest, which will be on MySpace .com until noon Friday.

"Some of these bands are very, very intent on promoting this," he said.
Stonebridge won't say who is winning the online competition, but he did say that thousands of votes have been logged. "Some of our bands are really towering in the vote totals."

Bands in the competition are vying for a chance to win separate prizes in the live and online portions of the competition. On the line for the concert portion of the competition are three recording packages from Morrisound. The first-place band will receive 10 hours of recording time. The second will get to spend five hours in the Tampa studio. The third will get three hours. The top two vote-getters in the online contest will receive $500 and $250 gift certificates, respectively, from Jam Music, 21531 Village Lakes Shopping Center Drive, Land O' Lakes.

The online contest has included videos of the individual bands that were put on MySpace and YouTube by library staff. Fans have been able to go online each week, over the course of six weeks, and vote for their favorite bands.

This year's live battle will take place from 5 to 11 p.m. Friday at Crews Lake Park, 16739 Crews Lake Drive, Shady Hills. To see the online contest videos and vote, go online to www.myspace .com/pascolibraries.

Admission to the concert is free to anyone with a library card. For those who don't have one, Stonebridge said, sign-ups will be available.

"How many times can you get into a concert for free?" Stonebridge said. Those who come out can "support the bands, the kids and the libraries."

The battle also serves as a fundraiser for Pasco County Friends of the Library. That group will have snacks and refreshments on sale, with proceeds benefiting library programs.

"I think it's such an exciting program," said Linda Allen, director of Pasco County libraries. "People on cruise ships are voting on which Pasco County bands they like the most. We don't know how they are finding us, but we love it."

Allen said the battle of the bands began as a "very, very small program."

"The point of it was just to have music for kids and for there to be a cooperation between libraries and parks," she said. "It has just grown and grown, and it is such an exciting program. Everything is donated. No tax money is being spent on this program. We are actually selling T-shirts, soda and things to make money."

Kiki Mirabal, 18, of Land O' Lakes, is one of the musicians in this year's event, with the band For Every Endeavor. Mirabal said the battle is "an interesting way to get noticed."

For bands to be eligible for the competition, members must live in Pasco County, with the majority of members being younger than 21. The seven bands in this year's competition are For Every Endeavor, The Distance, Tomatoes and Radio Wires, Variance, Vanessa I Promise, Hippodrome and Set the Sights. Participants range in age from 14 to 20.

Last year's battle drew 550 people to Crews Lake Park. Stonebridge hopes to top that number this year.

For information, call (813) 929-1214.

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