Calling on local bands to take the stage at the Hard Rock Cafe for the chance to play at this year’s 97x Next Big Thing! As part of this year’s Hard Rock Rising Tampa – Battle of the Bands, music acts will have to, quite literally, battle it out for their shot at next level fame.

Rising to the Next Level
Beginning on Monday, June 18 at 10:00 a.m. EDT, we will open online registration at TampaHardRock.com/Rising.  All entrants will need to be at least 16 years of age and submit a completed Reverb Nation webpage with two original song uploads.  Submission period ends on Friday, June 29, at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

On Monday, July 9, we will announce three (3) finalists from all eligible entrants to participate in the live competition. In addition, three (3) wild card finalists will be chosen. We will solicit fans via a social media vote to select the last wildcard finalist among the three wildcard finalists from Monday, July 9 through Friday, July 13.

On Monday, July 16, we will announce online the three finalist bands and the one wild card finalist band who will battle at the Live Competition on Wednesday, August 1, at Hard Rock Cafe Tampa.

Winner Takes All
The Live Competition will produce one Grand Prize winner who will win a performance slot at 97x Next Big Thing 2018 at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa. The Grand Prize winner will also receive an “Insta-Band” package from Dean Guitars that includes one five-piece drum kit, two electric guitars and one electric bass guitar.

The Live Competition judges will include a variety of music industry professionals. There will be five categories included in the judging criteria – Originality (30%), Musicianship (20%), Vocal Ability (20%), Stage Presence (20%) and Audience Reaction (10%).

For full rules and more information on Hard Rock Rising Tampa – Battle of the Bands, please visit here.