Part of what we hope to accomplish at hurdcore.com is to inspire fans and bands to connect and participate rather than just observe the world around them. If you have a favorite band, now is your time to shine and get them a spot on the Vans Warped Tour by voting for them to play in the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands. You can vote as many times as you one but only once a day. Take a few seconds, gather your brosephs and lets get some local bands to the top of the heap!

The Top 100 vote getting bands for each venue will be eligible to win a slot to play live on the Vans Warped Tour. All 100 bands for each venue will be reviewed by a panel of industry professionals comprised of our partners, Vans Warped Tour Organizers, and Ernie Ball Inc. Four bands will be chosen to perform live on the Ernie Ball Stage for each date of the 2010 Vans Warped Tour.

Check out the hurdcore.com Battle of The Bands Page – HERE

VENUE: Battle of the Bands – St. Louis, Missouri
July 5, 2010 @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

When Bears Attack (Screamo – IL)

VENUE: Battle of the Bands – George, Washington
August 14, 2010 @ Gorge Ampitheater

We Move Mountains (Screamo – WA)

VENUE: Battle of the Bands – Hillsboro, Oregon
August 15, 2010 @ The Washington County Fairgrounds

Roseway (Hardcore – Portland)

Tallboy (Hardcore/Metal – Medford)

Elenora (Screamo – Roseburg)

Swinglow (Metal – WA)

Fallstar (Screamo – Portland)

Something About Airplanes (Pop – Portland)

Aleen (Rock – Portland)

allshewrote
(Screamo – Portland)

For more information on local music, band interviews, concert updates and promotional content. Local bands, artists, concerts, venues, tours and events from rock, hip-hop, metal, pop, punk, hardcore, acoustic, indie, organic, progressive, funk, rap and more. Stay tuned to hurdcore.com, friend us on myspace and join us facebook Hurdcore is open to partnerships to promote local arts, music and entertainment as well as advertising opportunities – hurdcore@gmail.com – be specific in “subject” line.

Hurdcore:Midwest set out this evening to observe a performance by a friend of hurdcore, Quad Cities, Illinois based rock/metal band Eleven Fifty Two. One this night there were two items of distinction the bands performance, which is one of (if not) their first as well as the beautiful and spacious venue in Davenport, Iowa known as The Redstone Room – both a first for hurdcore.

Eleven Fifty Two boast a heavy rock sound with a creative blend of metallic riffs and full bodied melodies. For only their first performance, EFT has a great stage presence as several of the local patrons noted, “Did I get here late, are you sure this is the opening act?!” Eleven Fifty Two is one of those bands who sounds as good in recording as they do live and translates their passion from live performances to their recordings. These are good looking dudes, which always helps when you are a local upstart working the grassroots of the bar circuit. There were several moments in between songs where the band displayed their presence with comical interactions, even when they were still working out the kinks with a few misfires from members of the band starting before the whole was ready.

This four piece hard rock/metal band is poised for regional dominance in the Illinois and Iowa local rock scenes. As described by the band,

Our music is pieced together with hard hitting drums, heavy guitars and a mix of rock and thrashy riffs that’ll get you stomping along.

Keep an eye out as Dustin [Vocals/Guitar], Mike [Guitar/Backing Vocals], Erik [Percussion] and Steve [Bass] continue to develop their live act. Stay up to speed with Eleven Fifty Two by checking in on their MySpace or check out video of the show at Hurdcore on Youtube – 11.50.2.

Unfortunately family duties beckoned from seeing the other acts for, but the venue itself was a highlight for the night and hurdcore looks forward to returning for many shows to come. The River Music Experience got its upstart in June of 2004 as one of seven pieces of the Davenport, Iowa’s River Renaissance supported by state, county and local government ventures as well as private investors, which was passed in 2001.  RME’s approach is multi-faceted exhibiting the heritage of Mississippi River music, with a specific emphasis on the Quad Cities creative history.  River Music Experience has hosted live bands, artists and performers from all genres while expanding their promotion and influence in local music through a variety of educational programming.

Our Mission: The River Music Experience (RME) exists [as a not for profit 501(c)3] to give Quad-City residents and visitors opportunities to experience America’s music, and most especially the music of the Mississippi River, through live music performances and programs which nurture, educate and inspire musicians, and music appreciators.

In short…The RME is a nonprofit helping build the Quad-City music scene through diverse live music and unique educational programming.

With a total space of over 31,000 square feet, The River Music Experience operates the bottom three floors of a historic five story building in the heart of Davenport, Iowa.  On the second floor is The Redstone Room, which serves as RME’s live music venue and boasts a full calendar of local and national artists from various genres.  Mojo’s serves as the RME’s spacious coffee house and Community Stage, with a collection of books, CDs, music as well as a calendar of local, regional and visiting artists offering live performances and open mic nights several nights a month.  Within the spectrum of RME’s instructional approach is an education based recording studio, The Sound Lab, and other successful programs like Rock Camp USA and partnerships with West Music to provide instrumental music lessons.

The River Music Experience is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees and managed by a professional staff. Contact us at 877-326-1333 or visit them online

River Music Experience
131 West 2nd Street
Davenport, IA 52801-1828
(563) 326-1333
www.rivermusicexperience.org

Venue: TreeHouse Venue
*Grand Opening 04/25/09
89 Centennial Loop
Eugene, OR (near Autzen – Oregon Ducks)
*All Ages Venue

Hurdcore.com recently had the honor of interviewing the curators of TreeHouse Venue via email through MySpace. From TreeHouse:

hello to you all.
i am ecstatic to announce
a new venue will soon be opening its doors
to the eugene/springfield area.

the atmosphere will be all age friendly
and music genre will vary
from hard rock, to alternative, to acoustic.

if you have any suggestions or questions
please feel free to leave your thoughts.
for booking info please contact:
treehousevenue@live.com

HC Is there anything significant about the name of your venue?
TH TreeHouse represents a place to get away and have fun. That’s what we’re all about, just hanging out and listening to some good music.

HC When/how did your venue go from the dream stage to actually having a site to get the music out?
TH It actually happened extremely fast! I had the idea back in October ‘08, and within just a couple of months it took off like a wildfire.

HC Where is your venue located?
TH 89 Centennial Loop. Eugene, OR

HC Is your venue all ages? Do you have any sort of a snack stand?
TH We are an all age venue. Currently we sell water, rockstars, and soda. We do hope to have a more broad concession stand down the road.

HCDo you cater to a certain genre of music? Are there any musical styles that are off limits?
TH We cater mainly to the alternative/rock/hardcore/acoustic audience. I think the biggest “no no” for us is country music.

HC For those who are unfamiliar with your area, is there good parking close to the venue? If they arrive early are there points of interest close to your venue?
TH We have lots of parking that is FREE

HC Where can those interested best connect with you to find out about updates, shows and other events?
TH The best way is checking out our myspace at: myspace.com/treehousemusicvenue

HC Are there any favorite/funny/scary memories from your history or a show that you’d like to share?
TH Well, since our first show is April 25th, we don’t have any good memories yet. But definitely soon to come…

HC What has been the most challenging part of establishing a local music venue? TH The most challenging part is advertising. It’s just knowing where your target audience can be reached and figuring out how to get the kids to come to the shows.

Upcoming Shows:

:: 4/25/09 (Eugene) Emsley w/ Eight Seven Central (Indie/Trance/Rockabilly)

:: 5/9/09 (Eugene) The Seatbelt Tragedy (Indie) w/ Returning Grace (Alternative)

Venue: El Corazon (Seattle)
109 Eastlake Avenue East
Seattle, WA 98109
Phone: (206) 381-3094

This venue is hosts a bar and a concert area, I don’t believe that they serve any food other than snacks in bar area (21+ only). All agers are able to purchase water and candies at the main window.

The venue is located in a business area of downtown Seattle (there are always things to see in Seattle), but we arrived late for my first visit so I did not take particular note of the surrounding businesses. El Corazon is set in a commercial area with plenty of nearby parking but you will likely have to pay.

The main floor is long and somewhat narrow with a second deck area where the bands can set up for merch and those who want nothing to do with the pit can observe. Bands perform from a raised stage with various speaker arrangements, if you are standing far left/right the sound can be muffled/hollow (may appeal to casual observers).

El Corazon has a noticeable presence of Security but overall seemed to understand their purpose and allowed crowd to do their thing. I did not observe anyone attempting to crowd surf and slam dancing was limited as the venue was pretty packed when I attended.

My initiation at El Corazon (Seattle) included Demon Hunter, the blessed return of Living Sacrifice, (the long awaited rebirth of Embodyment) The Famine, and Oh Sleeper. This venue is of a decent size relevant to comparable venues, I look forward to returning for more hurdcore!

Update 4.15.09 :: Is Rock & Roll Pizza R.I.P? Their website is no longer active and the phone number that I had is for a Chinese restaurant…if you have any info, please do forward that.

Venue: Rock and Roll Pizza
11140 S.E. Powell Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97266

Located within a bar, food and a variety of drinks is available for all ages. The venue is located not located in the main portion of Portland, I don’t recall many places to hang out if you arrive early (you can sit in the bar area and order food/drink, I think there is a Safeway within walking distance). Area is primarily residential, location has a decent amount of parking on site but you may have to walk if you arrive late (I’ve never had to pay for parking). Floor is fairly open with the merch area on the outskirts of the main area. Area is a decent size with a raised stage, the sound encaptures the floor (no escape except for separate bar area). I don’t recall a heavy security presence in my several visits but I have not witnessed anything out of the ordinary either.

This has been an excellent venue, I’ve been able to see some great bands such as: Nodes of Ranvier, Zao, Becoming The Archetype, Still Remains…