On: July 18 at 10:00 AM
Above and at front, Athens.
Rarely — if ever — have you been able to hear a song like “Shotguns and Blow Torches” echoing through Lodi’s premier arts and cultural venue, Hutchins Street Square, 125 S. Hutchins St.
The track, which is by Modesto metal/hardcore act Athens, is a machine-gun flurry of drums, guitar and screaming, growling vocals. It’s a tremendously popular sound on the local music scene, but it’s not the type of music that’s been featured in Hutchins Street Square’s schedule of plays, community events and folk, jazz and world music concerts.
That will change July 19, when the venue hosts 11 metal, hardcore and screamo bands for the OneEightyMusic Battle of the Bands. Ten of the groups will be competing for a $1,000 prize while the 11th — last year’s winner, Athens — will play a headlining set. The show runs from 2-11 p.m. and admission is $12.
209Vibe held the 209's first-ever online battle for the event; the winner will be announced at Hutchins Street Square.
OneEightyMusic is part of 180, a Lodi teen center. Jake McGregor, the center’s executive director, said the battle provides a showcase for talented young musicians in one of the area’s best-known venues. The battle will be held in Kirst Hall, which can accommodate 700 fans and is the square’s second-largest performance space.
“We want to give (bands) a legitimate stage and a legitimate opportunity to display their wares, to show their art,” McGregor said.
He added that the audience for that art appears to be strong. An average of 150 teens have been coming to 180 every Friday night this year for concerts that often feature metal, hardcore and screamo bands, McGregor said. Six of the shows have been sell outs, drawing 275 people.
McGregor said the scene’s development has been fueled by the increased popularity of bands like Athens, Catherine and A Skylit Drive, a Lodi screamo act whose debut CD is available nationwide. Each group has competed in past battles.
This is the seventh year the battle has been held. McGregor said the event was founded to help 180 reach teens through a medium they understand — aggressive hardcore music.
“We look at it as an opportunity to work with kids that get overlooked,” McGregor said. “Bands, when you look at their message, who are they writing about? They’re writing about the kids they’re talking to.
“We’re being relevant, in a modern way, to the kids,” he added.
email: ihill@209Vibe.com
