If there's ever a month to be excited about live music, it's April. The little festival in the desert known as Coachella will rear its head over two separate weekends this month, creating a black hole that sucks in bands from all over the world to California and -- thanks to the wonders of geography -- right through San Diego. That means lots of shows to see all month, but you'd be wise to save some energy for April 26, when SoundDiego hosts its live event at the Hard Rock Hotel's 207 Club.
GET ON SOUNDDIEGO LIVE GUEST LIST AND YOU'RE ENTERED TO WIN A FREE GUITAR!
April's show will actually be the 20th occurrence of the always-popular SoundDiego LIVE series. For the uninitiated, every month we pick some local bands to wow you at a different location around town. There's a VIP happy hour (more on that later), free appetizers and a good time is reliably had by all.
Alt-rock trio Republic of Letters will headline the April 26 event. The dapper gentlemen have a polished sound reminiscent of arena-rockers like Muse, but unlike that band, you can see Republic of Letters up close and personal at the Hard Rock.
Local six-piece the Heavy Guilt will fill the evening's middle slot. The band -- which includes SoundDiego's newest blogger, Al Howard -- always draws a crowd around town, thanks to some sophisticated songwriting and singer Erik Canzona's gruff but accessible vocals.
Kicking off the night will be the winner of this month's Garage 2 Glory contest, an online battle of the bands between two up-and-coming acts. This month, voters will be enter to win an Epiphone Les Paul Special II Gibson guitar when they vote for their favorite artist. There's one hitch -- you have to be at SoundDiego LIVE to win the guitar!
With three bands scheduled to play, you won't go hungry for music, but you still might get thirsty. Don't worry though, we've got you covered: Get to the Hard Rock Hotel early and you can enjoy a VIP Happy Hour, presented by Jack Daniel's, with free food from the Hard Rock and a cocktail from 7-8 p.m.
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On the off-chance you enjoy all that delicious whiskey a little too much, we've got you covered there, too. That's why the folks from BeMyDD will be on hand to provide three teams for two hours, with drivers waiting on site to drive home as many people and their cars as possible during the two hours at the end of SoundDiego LIVE. Anyone who uses BeMyDD at SoundDiego LIVE will get an annual membership for free (typically, folks get a 30-day trial with a $25 annual membership). Plus, one lucky partygoer will win a free ride home they can use at thier leisure at March's SoundDiego LIVE, courtesy of BeMyDD!
April's SoundDIego LIVE event will be hosted by DJ/SoundDiego writer Robin Roth with an assist by Jack Daniel's master taster Jeff Norman. RSVP to get on the guest list here.
GET ON SOUNDDIEGO LIVE GUEST LIST AND YOU'RE ENTERED TO WIN A FREE GUITAR!
Chris Maroulakos is a writer and managing editor for the San Diego music blog Owl and Bear.
