Amplified, and Amped Out!!
By Jabber Jaw

…A rose is a rose by any other name, but AMPLIFY was not a typical Battle of the Bands…

42 Bands from across the United States converged in Las Vegas at Jillian’s for the AMPLIFY!! Independent Music Comp-Fest?. Bands came from as far away as New York, North Carolina, Philly & St. Louis, but the majority of Bands came from Las Vegas & So-Cal with a few hailing from Arizona. What were all the Bands doing in Vegas exactly? Going for over $25,000 in cash & prizes that included a show on the 2006 Warped Tour….

BULDING A BETTER SPACESHIP from LA were the First place winners taking home a prize pack worth over $15,000 that included $5,000 cash, and a show on the 2006 Warped Tour. Las Vegas locals THE ILL FIGURES were Second grabbing their prize pack worth over $7,000 in cash & prizes; In addition to being selected by UNLV for a $500 Gig to play on UNLV campus during the middle of the second day of school!!!! While THE AFTER MIDNIGHT PROJECT, also from LA, received Third and over $3,000 in cash & prizes.

All in all it was 4 great days of music, and a great deal of talent to choose from. “This is way more difficult that I thought to judge…” mentioned Chi Cheng of Deftones. Chi was one of the 3 prelim Judges along with Ray Ray Anderson an Indie AnR Rep, and Blake Hannon from UNLV Events & Programming. The fourth & final night added even more heavy hitters with judges that included; Robert Reynolds Attorney for The Killers, Tony Fredianelli of Third Eye Blind, Vince Pilleggi President of Music Inc, Scott Ramey of Lucky Artist Booking Agency, Rodel Delfin from Hits Magazine, and Eric Hunter Director of AnR at Geffen Records.

So it’s safe to say that the AMPLIFY organizers over at Production Avenue did everything they could to insure a great opportunity & successful event for the Bands. And I’d even say they went beyond what a normal “Battle” would do. One of the things that made AMPLIFY unique was the events ability to give back to the Bands in every aspect. Just for submitting material, Bands received Artist Development Packs that included free Trademark searches of their Band name. In addition, AMPLIFY provided an Artist Development Workshop that included Max McAndrew - LV House of Blues Talent Buyer, Brian Saliba - a Las Vegas Event & Festival Producer, Ray Ray Anderson - Indie AnR Rep, Holmes Pooser of Xtreme Radio, Robert Reynolds Attorney for The Killers, Tony Fredianelli of Third Eye Blind, and Chi Cheng of Deftones as the Keynote Speaker. Though all had very important and viable info for all the Bands, Tony Fredianelli’s intro speech was the highlight of the evening, and most impressive. Tony laid it on the line in one of the truest forms I have ever heard about the Music industry, and to sum it all up, “…it ain’t all MTV cribs” as Tony put it. Though the Workshop covered everything from Bookings, Radio, Touring, Legal, Marketing, & even the physically demanding aspect of a Musician, the basic tone over the Workshop was about hard work and perseverence - or as Chi Cheng says, “music is 99% perspiration, and 1% inspiration”…

Chi’s statement holds true to AMPLIFY as well as it appears as Tim Driver from ProductionAvenue had put a great deal of planning & work into AMPLIFY. “Actually, all the credit goes to all the Bands”, Tim said. “And of course everyone who supported local music by buying a ticket – and its my priveledge just to be involved.”

So if you happened to have missed it all, guess what? With the help of TheIndieShow.com, ProductionAvenue videotaped the entire event and will be Web-cast on www.theindieshow.com Sept 13th. Also, The workshop and the performances may eventually be viewed and/or purchased online at www.amplifymymusic.com As for the future of AMPLIFY, Tim Driver said “Just wait and see…”