For more than a decade, teenage heartthrobs have crooned their way to the top of Maple Grove’s Battle of the Bands, and this year’s melodies should sound even sweeter in the event’s second year outdoors at the Town Green.
Tanya Hilger, youth outreach coordinator for the city, has organized and attended the shows the past seven years. She says it never gets old: “There are always new bands that don’t have a place to perform.”
Join in June 17 to see six bands woo the judges from The Institute of Production and Recording. After a tally of scores in a band’s technical skills, originality, stage presence and the judges’ gut feeling of who they’ll name winners, the first-place band gets an eight-hour-long recording session worth $2,000 with an engineer at Master Mix Studios in Minneapolis.
From 2007 to 2010, bassist David Vanderwarn played with band A Red Letter Day at the Battles of the Bands. Though they never took the top prize, he says, “We got what we wanted … the gig at the State Fair.” Runners-up this year get the same chance, too, and Vanderwarn says it was nice to get public exposure to build up the band’s reputation.
The bi-annual battles of the bands (the next is in August) have continuously drawn in at least 200 people. The June 17 event will host bands of all genres going tune for tune starting at 7 p.m. Hilger recalls a variety of genres covering heavy metal, alternative, pop music and more. (Last year she even saw an accordion player on stage.) A true battle has a variety of weapons. Free. 7991 Main St. N.; 763.494.6512
