Vegas bands vie for ‘Bike Rack Battles’ title

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 9:04 a.m.

What: "Bike Rack Battles."

Who: Absent Minded, Goody-2-Shoes, Local 15, Jr. Anti-Sex League, Halfway, A Silence Fell, Januarys Last Call, September Star.

When: 7 tonight.

Where: Huntridge Theatre.

Tickets: $7.

Information: (702) 678-6800.

Local band Halfway has spent all week rehearsing for tonight's show at Huntridge Theatre, which marks the quintet's first appearance at Las Vegas' historic concert venue.

All week, that is, except for Thursday. That day was set aside for an even more important task.

"Two of the guys are taking their driver's test Thursday, so we aren't rehearsing," guitarist Austin Jeffers said early in the week.

Such are the concerns of a high school rock band. Tonight the Huntridge will showcase eight of the area's top up-and-coming acts for its "Bike Rack Battles," a judged battle of the bands with prizes awaiting the victors.

"We want to support high school bands, because the kids are always the ones coming up with new sounds," Kat Kellams, director of promotions for the Huntridge, said. "These type of events help foster the idea that they can create something, and that they don't have to play in a garage forever."

Presented by Newspapers in Education a nationwide effort to promote literacy through newspapers tonight's event will be judged by local media members and assorted area music aficionados.

By contest rules, at least one member of each band must be enrolled in high school for the 2002-2003 academic year. A portion of the proceeds from the $7 ticket price will benefit Newspapers in Education. The winning band will receive six hours of recording time in the John Lennon Tour Bus a mobile studio on Jan. 23. Second place is an electric guitar.

Tonight's eight finalists Absent Minded, Goody-2-Shoes, Local 15, Jr. Anti-Sex League, Halfway, A Silence Fell, January's Last Call and September Star were selected from more than 40 area hopefuls submitting recordings for consideration.

For some, like punk band Absent Minded, earning a spot was hardly a long shot. The trio played the Huntridge as an opening act for the Happy Campers in December, so the group already had an opportunity to impress event organizers.

But lead singer/guitarist Brendan Scholz, a sophomore at Las Vegas Academy, said his group's familiarity with its surroundings won't reduce the jitters he's sure to get playing for a crowd that should number in the hundreds.

"I'm still nervous," Scholz, 16, said. "I don't care about the prizes, but it's a chance to play for people, to bring out the masses to see us. It's a big deal for us."

Travis Naegle, guitarist for metal band A Silence Fell, figured his group had lost its chance to play the Huntridge when the theater closed its doors in January 2002.

"When they closed, it was a bummer," Naegle, a 16-year-old junior at Las Vegas Academy, said. "We'd been waiting so long to play there. But now we'll get our chance."

Along with Absent Minded, pop-punk outfit January's Last Call will be making a return to the Huntridge, having shared the bill with the Happy Campers in December. More than 800 people showed up that night, and singer/guitarist Santiego "Superstar" said he and his bandmates have been passing out fliers at area high schools and skate parks all week to make sure tonight's event is also well attended.

"I loved playing there, and the main thing for us is the chance to play there again," the 16-year-old Cheyenne High sophomore said. "We know how important promotion is. A show like this really gets our band out there."

Halfway might be the evening's most unlikely success story. Not only will the five-piece combo be playing its first-ever club gig, having previously played only at friends' parties, but the band's recently recorded demo was not finished in time for the "Bike Rack Battles" submission deadline.

So Jeffers and his mates set up a video camera during a rehearsal, and instead turned in a videotape that Kellams said was rather low-fi, to say the least.

"You could hear what they wanted to do -- they have talent," Kellams said. "Now you're just double-crossing (our fingers) that they can do it live."

Halfway's only difficulty tonight may be filling the 30-minute time slot the Huntridge has set aside for each band on the bill. The group's demo lasts just nine minutes, though Jeffers said they have been working on new material this week.

"We're not going to treat it as a competition," said Jeffers, who describes his band's sound as "emo-core," hardcore with an emphasis on melody. "We're just about going to the Huntridge and having fun.