TNT’s Ignited!

TNT's Ignited!

Unbelievable! Last night was simply that, Unbelievable! Whenever TNT's & 89X get together for their half a year long "I'm With The Band V3.0 $10,000 Contest", you damn well better believe the Finals will be a rockin! After nearly 7 months (round one started in January), over 80 Bands, 16 Preliminary Rounds, One Wild Card Round, and Five Semi-Final Rounds, we finally found a winner for that 10K last night when TNT's was literally ignited during the Final Round that drew 700+ people through the door, creating a perfectly hot & sweaty environment that Rock & Roll so deserves! What an amazing site to see, cars parking wherever they could find, a full house starting at 8pm that seemed to include everybody and anybody who has a hand in the scene, a line out the door that eventually closed down entrance inside, making it one exciting event that has become quite the tradition in this eastside rock room. As always, the Finals began a week earlier with the "On Line Vote" segment that allowed everyone a chance to get in on the action by voting once per 24hr period, and in a strange development for the finals, was worth absolutely nothing in the decision of who was to win the $10,000 tonight, except to determine set order by allowing the winner to choose first, second place to chose second and so on. Where as in all previous rounds, the on line vote winner received 10% towards their final score, with the remaining coming from Door Vote worth 40%, with 3 judges voting on Sound which was worth 30%, and Performance worth 20%, essentially requiring a band to win 2 out of the three segments during the "Live" portion of the contest to win a round. For the finals, the judge's vote total remained unchanged, but the Door Vote became 50% of total needed to win, dramatically changing the context of the competition? The on line voting for the finals was so close, that just over 100 votes separated 2^nd thru 5^th place out of over 7,000 votes cast, and saw Core Effect win with 2,067, followed by Lies Unknown with 1,282, Cody Stagefright was 3^rd with 1,227, The Pilz with 1,188, Hell Rides North with 1,140, and finally Half Light Music with 272. After the week long hoopla, it was time to put to rest all those bulletins, updates, and tweets, and trade them in for Guitars, Drums, & Microphones and let the music do the talking! First up was semi-final 1 winners, Half Light Music, who admittedly announced they weren't very "computer savvy", thus were left to open the night, but musically they brought everything they had in a 30 minute set that was near flawless. Wildcard selection, The Pilz, who just Released their Debut CD "Hard to Swallow" tonight over at The Hayloft (see Dr2 View of Hard To Swallow), went

Core Effect Won The Online Vote

on second in their bid to claim the $10,000 Grand Prize, bringing nearly a hundred fans through the door, dropped yet another amazing set that had everyone pumping & jumping during their 30 minutes in the spotlight. Check out the "custom" made shirt singer Danni Katastrophe wore, courtesy of InkAddict.com, now that's confidence! Winners of the fifth semi-final, Cody Stagefright, certainly did not show any signs of suffering from stage fright, appearing on stage in front of over a hundred of their fans, kicking off their set with an impromptu "drum line", before belting out their blend of urban hip hopping rock. Winning semi-final 4, as well as the online vote,

Lies Unknown Brought Down The House

gave Core Effect a huge opening advantage as they were allowed to choose their set time first. Opting for a middle of the road slot, Core Effect brought along nearly 150 fans who obliviously are quite computer savvy, giving them the on-line vote win, and by singing along to nearly every as Core Effect dropped the music down a notch just to listen to the chorus of voices reverberating back at them, quite the sight to hear! Winning the contest's 3^rd semi-final was the 2008 Mt Clemens Music Awards "Favorite Overall" band winners, Lies Unknown, whose 178 fans through the door had TNT's

Justin Alexander of Lies Unknown Crowd Surfing

security shutting down entry for nearly ½ hour, came in second in the on line vote and chose the fifth slot to take their best shot at winning it all. Starting their set off with a boisterous fanfare of bass & drum lines, as Justin Alexander & Jamie Allen made their appearance through a "lit up" smoke cloud, sending their fans, which by now seemed like the entire room into a furor of pandemonium! In what was a brilliant display of 30 minutes of mayhem, Lies Unknown ended their set with a dual crowd surfing stint that saw Alexander & Allen both set out on top of the crowds outstretched arms, surfing out then right back to the stage, a perfect segue for their upcoming appearance at the crowd surfing capital of the world,

DMF of Hell Rides North Making His Entrance

next weeks Vans Warped Tour at Comerica Park. Semi-final 2 winner, Hell Rides North, eventually finished fifth in the on-line vote and were left with the preposterous decision of which time slot to take, first or last, before regaining consciousness and selecting the night ending 6^th slot, a decision that worked perfectly, giving their 194 metal loving fans every opportunity to get all primed and ready to tear TNT's apart. With a fair warning to the mass of people gathered in front that there would be no moshing allowed (a real bummer, but a realistic concern),

Hell Rides North Wins The $10,000!!

Hell Rides North took to the stage, as always waiting for Mr Bombastic, DMF, to strip down to his skivvies and make his infamous dash for his Drum Kit, sending what had been pure mayhem, into complete and utter chaos as Hell Rides North just unleashed their best set Dr2 has ever witnessed from these guys, ending their run for the money with what looked like 50 of their rabid fans on stage with them, bringing to a close one of the closest contests to date. When the dust settled and the smoke finally cleared, the winner of the 89X I'm With The Band v3.0 was finally announced, sending Hell Rides North home $10,000 richer than when they arrived! Congratulations guys! Keep it tuned right here to Dr2 as Cal Cagno, along with TNT's annouinced they yes indeed they'll be back next year with v4.0 of the 89X I'm With The Band Marathon! Be sure to check out all the photos from this event inside the Dr2 Gallery then check out the bands from tonight by dropping in to the Dr2 MySpace Page where you'll find all the finalists listed in our "Top Friends". DetroitRockReview.com - The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!