Award-Winning Musical Group Train and Others Perform with Entrants Live Online
Twelve from a field of 906 home-grown rock and popular bands have been named the most deserving performers and will compete in this year’s 7-Eleven and Slurpee Battle of the Bands (BOTB) contest that kicks off 7-Eleven stores’ recognized birthday: July 11.
Starting this Sunday, the musical groups will begin showcasing their talents live in concert online and competing for semi-finalist status at four regional concerts. The first takes place this Sunday at 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET in Los Angeles at The House of Blues on Sunset Strip where three of the bands will open for a performance by Train, the Grammy Award-winning rock group from San Francisco. You can watch this live event at Facebook.com/Slurpee.
The other venues where the remaining BOTB competitors contend in groups of three with each playing three songs are:
- Chicago – July 23 at 7:00 pm CT / 8:00 pm ET at The House of Blues in Chicago – leading up to music by All Time Low, an American pop punk band from Baltimore
- Dallas – August 6 at 7:00 pm CT / 8:00 pm ET at The House of Blues in Dallas – before a performance by B.o.B., an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer from Atlanta
- New York – August 16 at 5:00 pm PT / 8:00 pm ET at Irving Plaza in New York – opening for N.E.R.D., a genre-bending alternative hip hop group from Virginia, fronted by Pharrell Williams
Fans can view all performances live online via Livestream on Slurpee’s Facebook page and then vote at Slurpee.com for their favorite band for three days immediately after each event. The group with the winning votes from each of the four events will continue on to the next round of competition.
Four semi-finalist bands will travel to Dallas where they will each have three days to create music videos with amateur video crews. Their music videos will be shown on Slurpee.com. Again, fans will vote for their favorite music videos and the two winners from this challenge will battle it out when each performs a special engagement in their respective home towns. Live video of these performances will also be streamed on the Slurpee Facebook page. Fan votes will be collected over two days and the winner will be announced on September 30 on Slurpee.com.
The top band will receive the grand prize of $10,000 and a chance to record in-studio and be featured on Wolfgangsvault.com.
The current top 12 bands competing for the “Slurpee Battle of the Bands” title and the grand prize along with their hometowns are:
- Ambience, San Jose, CA
- Burning Tree, St. Petersburg, FL
- Don’t Shoot The Messenger, Arlington, TX
- Fancy Me Yet , Miami, FL
- Levi Ware, Seattle, WA
- News Team Assemble, Dallas, TX
- Northpilot, Chicago, IL
- Not Like This, Saint Paul, MN
- Talain Rayne, Phoenixville, PA
- The Banana Convention, Saginaw, MI
- The Hollabacks, Los Angeles, CA
- The Welcome Home, Portland, OR
“Slurpee and music have a natural affinity for each other,” said Evan Brody, 7-Eleven marketing manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp brands. ”They’re such a big part of summer fun for teens and young adults, whether it’s stadium concerts, music festivals or just blasting your radio with the top down. ”
“We’ve had Slurpee summer music promotions before, but last year’s Battle of the Bands really struck a chord,” he added. “The number of entries in this year’s contest just exploded, and it’s going to be an exciting summer for music fans to discover new bands.”
