Ryan Smith started in LA at The Roxy.

Cory, Nelson, and I went to The Metro for the Chicago stop.

Nelson jetted up to Toronto to hang at the Mod Club.

Ryan was joined by @Shure_Mike in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Mike flew down to Austin to meet me at Emo’s.

Cory and @shureinc (or rather the person behind the tweets) had a hot time in Boston at the Paradise Rock Club despite a lot of snow.

Now we’ve got the finalists from each of the regional contests up at http://giveitvoice.shure.com/.  It’s up to you to vote on who you think deserves the trip to play at the Red Gorilla Festival in Austin come mid-March. Check out the bands’ live videos and vote!

Our thanks go out to all the bands that participated and those that played as well as the great venues that hosted our regional events.

Richard

Ryan Smith started in LA at The Roxy.

Cory, Nelson, and I went to The Metro for the Chicago stop.

Nelson jetted up to Toronto to hang at the Mod Club.

Ryan was joined by @Shure_Mike in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon.

Mike flew down to Austin to meet me at Emo’s.

Cory and @shureinc (or rather the person behind the tweets) had a hot time in Boston at the Paradise Rock Club despite a lot of snow.

Now we’ve got the finalists from each of the regional contests up at http://giveitvoice.shure.com/.  It’s up to you to vote on who you think deserves the trip to play at the Red Gorilla Festival in Austin come mid-March. Check out the bands’ live videos and vote!

Our thanks go out to all the bands that participated and those that played as well as the great venues that hosted our regional events.

Richard

The day of the event arrived and we made our way to the venue which is nestled within the blocks of campus that make up Boston University. College students are always looking for something to do and they like free stuff, too! This would be our saving grace when it came to the head count later that cold, snowy, slushy evening. The bands were already loading in when we got there, so we started to set up shop as well. Our talent pool for the evening involved the melodic rock of Captain Cutthroat, the captivating vocals of singer/songwriter Mieka Pauley and the spastic ska stylings of Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet… we couldn’t have hand-picked a more diverse line-up if we tried, but this was what Boston wanted.

Fast-forward to show time… Captain Cutthroat was the first band randomly picked to work the stage and the PA to their full potential. They blazed through a powerful rock set leaving the crowd all wound up and thirsty for more. The guys certainly got things started in a big way for this stop on our SM58 tour.

Next up was Mieka Pauley, a hometown hero amongst the singer songwriter set. She graced the stage as our lone solo act for the evening, and from the first note, you could hear a pin drop. The audience huddled near the stage hung on her every word; quite a change from the first act, but altogether enchanting.

Finally, the eight members of Connecticut-based Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet crowded the stage and got the crowd jumping with their homemade blend of ska and onstage antics. To say these guys had a good time onstage would be an understatement, the lead singer of the group had endured a snow blower accident earlier that morning to get to the stage… nothing was going to stand in the way of their moment to play Boston for the first time.

As the judges huddled in a dark corner tallying their votes, we thanked the faithful fans that stuck around all night and paid our respects to the amazing staff at the Paradise Rock Club. It was truly an experience we won’t soon forget. At the end of it all, Llama Tsunami took the Boston leg of the contest and moved onto the next round. Check out their video performance from that night on our website http://giveitvoice.shure.com/ Thanks Boston, we hope to see you again soon! Good luck to all the bands and we’ll see you in Austin.

Cory

The day of the event arrived and we made our way to the venue which is nestled within the blocks of campus that make up Boston University. College students are always looking for something to do and they like free stuff, too! This would be our saving grace when it came to the head count later that cold, snowy, slushy evening. The bands were already loading in when we got there, so we started to set up shop as well. Our talent pool for the evening involved the melodic rock of Captain Cutthroat, the captivating vocals of singer/songwriter Mieka Pauley and the spastic ska stylings of Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet… we couldn’t have hand-picked a more diverse line-up if we tried, but this was what Boston wanted.

Fast-forward to show time… Captain Cutthroat was the first band randomly picked to work the stage and the PA to their full potential. They blazed through a powerful rock set leaving the crowd all wound up and thirsty for more. The guys certainly got things started in a big way for this stop on our SM58 tour.

Next up was Mieka Pauley, a hometown hero amongst the singer songwriter set. She graced the stage as our lone solo act for the evening, and from the first note, you could hear a pin drop. The audience huddled near the stage hung on her every word; quite a change from the first act, but altogether enchanting.

Finally, the eight members of Connecticut-based Llama Tsunami and the Without Helmet crowded the stage and got the crowd jumping with their homemade blend of ska and onstage antics. To say these guys had a good time onstage would be an understatement, the lead singer of the group had endured a snow blower accident earlier that morning to get to the stage… nothing was going to stand in the way of their moment to play Boston for the first time.

As the judges huddled in a dark corner tallying their votes, we thanked the faithful fans that stuck around all night and paid our respects to the amazing staff at the Paradise Rock Club. It was truly an experience we won’t soon forget. At the end of it all, Llama Tsunami took the Boston leg of the contest and moved onto the next round. Thanks Boston, we hope to see you again soon! Good luck to all the bands and we’ll see you in Austin.

Cory