Best described as a global battle of the bands, Hard Rock Rising offers the opportunity of a lifetime to unsigned acts from all over the world.
Organised by Hard Rock International, the competition will place the grand prize winners on the fast-track to global stardom, via a world tour that includes performances in London, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Chicago and Honolulu as well as the chance to record an album and a music video through Hard Rock Records. The band will also receive $10,000 (€7,680) worth of new music equipment and gear.
Regarded as the furthest-reaching battle of the bands in the world, Hard Rock Rising’s first phase was held in February. Some 12,000 participating bands worldwide vied for the public vote in their respective countries in order to go through to the next round of the competition.
The voting, which was carried out via a dedicated app on Hard Rock Café’s Facebook page has yielded a list of top contenders – nine in total for the Malta edition – who will now battle it out by giving it their best shot live on stage.
Starting this Thursday, the first of the three qualifying nights will see The Creepers, Mana Tapu and Negative Spaces take to the stage at the Hard Rock Café in Baystreet.
The following Thursday, it will be the turn of Rise, MoJo and Criminal Kiss with the last three bands, namely Aces Shade, Ascendor and Different Strings performing on April 4.
The bands’ performances will be judged by a panel featuring established personalities from the local music scene, with the top-placing three overall bands taking the stage one more time on the final night on April 11, when the band with the highest points will be announced as the Maltese representative to compete against 95 other winners from around the world. The first band will go on at 9pm and entrance is free.
Hard Rock Rising is organised in partnership with Go and is supported by Budweiser, Clint-On-One, tilllate.com.mt, Pejxa Music and Manic Magazine in collaboration with BAM Events.
www.facebook.com/hardrock