B.O.O.M! Round 3, Week 1

Congratulations to our Round 2 Winners, The Tins!

Congratulations to The Tins for winning last week’s live showdown at Nietzsche’s. With that win, they secure a spot in the BOOM Grand Finale, coming up on April 20 at the Tralf..

For those of you who aren’t familiar with BOOM, here’s how it works: Local original music acts visit the boom.artvoice.com website. There, they can learn how easy it is to enter the contest. Number one, it’s free. That out of the way, all a band has to do is supply a digital photo, a digital song track, and answer a few questions about themselves. This is all done in a matter of minutes.

Each week from those submissions we choose two acts to go head-to-head against one another. Then, local music fans visit boom.artvoice.com where they can click on the band they prefer.

The most successful bands are those that not only have created a cool sound, but have also cultivated a loyal fanbase that will go to the website and vote for them. Fans only have from Thursday when the paper hits the street until the following Tuesday at midnight to register their vote. By the following morning, those votes are counted, and the band with the most votes wins a spot on the bill at the first live BOOM Bash. The next one happens to be scheduled for Saturday, January 14 at Nietzsche’s—one of the area’s top live music venues. There, audience members are issued a ballot at the door which they can then cast for their favorite act. At the end of the night, the band that garners the most votes wins a spot in the BOOM Grand Finale—an event that will be described in a moment.

The process then repeats three more times—two bands facing off against one another—until we have four finalists for each upcoming BOOM Bash (2/25, 4/7). Along the way, a total of eight local original acts get exposed to a wider audience every month by simply participating in the contest.

But the fun doesn’t end there. For, once we have the four winners from these live BOOM Bashes, we send them all into the crucible of public opinion known as the live BOOM Grand Finale. There, the cream of the crop go all out in one last heroic effort to blow the audience away and coax the most ballots into their pile—because, at the end of the night, the band with the most votes wins the right to call themselves Artvoice BOOM Grand Champions.

Along with $5,000.

Sounds good? That’s ‘cause it is good.

A word of warning however: Bands attempting to stuff the ballot by submitting multiple votes will be rooted out using the most sophisticated intelligence software available on the black market. (Well, okay, that’s a bluff, but if you try to fool our IT guy you will be caught. Just ask the FBI…he’s that good. And if that happens, you will be disqualified with nowhere to appeal our decision.)

IF YOU’RE IN A BAND, AND WOULD LIKE TO ENTER BOOM, visit boom.artvoice.com to find out how. In the meantime, check out this week’s contestants—’92 Bills and The Lake Effect—then visit the website to listen to their music and vote for the one you like best. As always, may the best band win.

The Lake Effect	92 Bills
You must have the latest Adobe Flash Player installed to listen to the BOOM! contestants.	You must have the latest Adobe Flash Player installed to listen to the BOOM! contestants.
Band Members: Lou Shafer / James Holden / Matt Sciara / Ron Veiders / Jeff Trenchard When/where did the band form? Our band formed about six years ago in Buffalo, NY. You might like us if you like: Any of the vocal groups from NBC’s “The Sing Off” (we actually auditioned for the first season) or collegiate a cappella groups. Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: We bring the distinct sound of original a cappella music to the competition. Website: www.tlewny.com	Band Members: Zach Jaworski - vocals and acoustic guitar / Thom Cich - electric guitar / Brian Fitzgerald - drums / Andre Pilette - bass When/where did the band form? We formed in the Fall of 2011 in North Buffalo. You might like us if you like: Ray LaMontagne, John Mayer, Johnny Cash, Van Morrison Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: We love what we do, and we want to share it with our beloved city and the readers of Artvoice. We’re rock ‘n’ rollers and we hope you enjoy our sound.

What did you think of this week's contestants? Feel free to discuss below - please keep it friendly - and remember, posting a comment in favor of a band doesn't count as a vote. Use the link above to cast your vote!