8 Bands Face Off in Annual Online Battle

Eight local bands are relying on Land O’ Lakes music lovers to help catapult them to victory in the online portion of Rockus Maximus XV: Battle of the Bands.

The annual battle is staged by the Pasco County Library System as a way to provide area bands with teenage members some exposure, performance experience and a chance to win prizes.

The battle includes two portions: a live concert set for March 23 and an online contest that relies on viewer votes to determine a winner. The band that wins during the live concert will get 10 hours of recording time at Morrisound Recording in Tampa. The winner of the online portion will bring home a $500 gift card from Encore Music. A $250 card goes to the band with the second highest number of online votes.

Voting in the online portion of the contest opened Monday at 12:01 a.m., said Paul Stonebridge, teen services manager for the Pasco County Library System.

This part of the contest, he said, is designed to give fans and would-be fans a chance to meet the bands in this year’s competition in advance of the March concert and let them “pick a favorite now.”

“The first chance to get to know them is today,” he said, adding that new video snippets will be added in the coming weeks as the final battle approaches. Voting for the online contest will be open until the concert on March 23.

The lineup in this year’s contest includes four bands from Pasco County and four bands from other areas in the state. In order to qualify, bands must have a majority of members age 21 or under. The bands are Lights at Night, Braille & Color, Hepburn & The Hooligan, MBL Trio, South of Holly, Open Box Policy, The Northwest and Oh, Elias. Sponsors for the battle include Rasmussen College, Morrisound, Encore Music, Land O’ Lakes Patch and New Port Richey Patch.

To take part in online voting, listen to the bands’ music and watch videos of the contest, visit the Rockus Maximus website.