For the second year in a row, The Vans Warped Tour has been sucked out of Boreal Mountain Resort down the mountain to the Sleep Train Amphitheatre near Sacramento.
But that doesn’t mean local bands can’t participate. As part of the 10th anniversary of the Warped tour, the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands invites budding acts from across the country to earn a slot on a Warped Tour stop. With four bands selected to play each stop of the tour and 48 dates set starting June 25, that’s 192 unsigned bands that get a chance to play Warped.
In the past Reno’s Sucka Punch and Livitz Livitz got spots when the tour stopped at Boreal. This year’s nearest show is July 8 at the Sleep Train. Bands include Bad Religion, The Vandals, New Found Glory, NOFX, Good Charlotte, Alkaline Trio, (International) Noise Conspiracy, Story of the Year (a former Ernie Ball Battle finalist) and more.
To enter, bands upload music to the Web site of guitar and string maker Ernie Ball, www.ernieball.com, and wait for the folks at Ernie Ball to accept or reject you for a Battle slot. Competition is stiff, as more than 1,000 bands enter. Throughout the summer, all the bands that submitted music battle for online votes. Generally, the ones that play on the tour get the most exposure, and thus the most votes. Those bands that win in online voting get gear from Ernie Ball, including microphones, guitars and strings. Bands that play on the tour get the chance to play at a Hollywood music industry showcase later this year.
Interested? Yeah, you are. To enter, go to Ernie Ball Web site prepared to upload an mp3 of your music, a photo and a band biography. Deadline to enter is April 16.