Bands to rock with icons

The famous band Gorrilaz may soon come out with an album recorded on the iPad and others may follow suit. But that does not mean that rockers are ready to throw in the towel as far as the traditional way of writing and recording music is concerned. The new technologies and gadgets may be interesting but nothing beats finding new melodies on the piano or the guitar and later using these to accompany the resulting song.

A number of amateur bands are expected to prove that this is indeed so when they compete in the Battle Of The Rock Icons next month. The contest gives unknown bands a chance to be discovered and maybe even land a recording contract. Organizers MCA Music and Robinsons Malls hope to encourage growth, improve music quality, provide opportunity and show support for unsung talents through this competition.

All these may happen soon for the rockers who will be able to prove how good they are in doing covers of the songs made famous by two of the greatest rock bands in the history of popular music, Queen and Bon Jovi. All those who want to join the contest must buy a copy or both albums featuring the greatest hits of these rock icons.

Then they must do a demo of two songs of their choice by either Queen or Bon Jovi, which must then be submitted to the contest. Then the best bands from these demos will be asked to perform a song live alongside other entrants. This will not be hard to do as I am sure that every rock band that exists hereabouts has at one time or another performed or dreamed of performing a song by Queen or Bon Jovi. They have two wonderful lists to choose from.

Greatest Hits by Queen celebrates 40 years of music from one of the UK’s most unforgettable bands. The digitally re-mastered set comes in two volumes and contains Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Are The Champions, We Will Rock You, Radio Ga Ga, Another One Bites The Dust, Somebody To Love, Killer Queen, Now I’m Here, Fat Bottomed Girls, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Bicycle Race, Flash, You’re My Best Friend and others.

Greatest Hits — The Ultimate Collection is a two-disc album containing the hits of Bon Jovi from the past 30 years. This is quite a line-up and is a true showcase of what makes American rock and roll very special. Living On A Prayer, You Give Love A Bad Name, It’s My Life, Have A Nice Day, Wanted Dead Or Alive, Bad Medicine, I’ll Be There For You, Always, This Ain’t A Love Song, Blaze Of Glory, Keep The Faith, Lost Highway, Bed Of Roses, In These Arms, Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night and others.

The competition is open to amateur bands with five to seven members aged 18 to 35. To join, they should submit the following in a short, brown envelope:

1. Demo CD containing two covers of the band’s choices from either the Queen or Bon Jovi repertoire.

2. Accomplished application form. It is available in all participating Robinsons Malls Information Counters.

3. One piece of 4R band photo.

4. Original receipt as proof of purchase of either the Bon Jovi The Ultimate Collection or Queen Greatest Hits Albums.

5. Submit applications to the Marketing Communications Department at the Mall Administration Office of any of the participating malls by April 30. Only complete applications with proof of purchase will be accepted.

The elimination rounds will be held on the following dates: May 12 at Robinsons Metro East; May 14, Robinsons Place Imus and Robinsons Place, Angeles; May 15, Robinsons Place Dasmariñas and Robinsons Starmills, Pampanga; May 21, Robinsons Nova Market and Robinsons Sta. Rosa Market; and May 22, Robinsons Place Lipa.

The winning band in each participating mall will then be called back for the grand finals on June 5 at Robinsons Metro East. The bands may be amateur but I am sure the finals will be one great show. Just imagine one famous song by Queen or Bon Jovi coming one after another and singers trying to be either Freddie Mercury or Jon Bon Jovi. Prizes at stake are grand prize, P50,000; second prize, P30,000; and third prize, P15,000.