TEmpe Music Festival: VALLEY STUDENT BANDS COMPETE FOR VIEWER VOTES

VALLEY STUDENT BANDS COMPETE FOR VIEWER VOTES WINNERS TO PLAY THE TEMPE MUSIC FESTIVAL !

The Circle K Tempe Music Festival and SRP’s search for the best garage band in Arizona is underway. Based on online polling at AZ Central, Collegetimes.com and judged live performances at Desert Ridge Marketplace and Tempe Marketplace, nine local high school and college garage bands have been chosen to advance to the next stage of the competition – playing in their very own American Idol-like interactive television show. The high school bands moving on are Black Antex, Fallen Adrift, Six Second Revival and The Turnarounds. The college bands moving on are The Season Premiere, The Dorsets, London Airspace, Captain Squeegee and Race You There.
All nine bands will perform this Sunday, March 15 from noon to 6p.m. at Alice Cooperstown for a live studio audience, celebrity judges and Cox Communications, who will be taping the entire program.
After the taping, the show – “Cox Rox” – will air on Cox7 on the following dates and times:
· Monday, March 23 at 8 p.m., Cox cable channel 7
· Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m., Cox cable channel 7
· Saturday, March 28 at 9 p.m., Cox cable channel 7
· Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m., Cox cable channel 7
While watching the competition, viewers will get a chance to vote for their favorites, courtesy of Cox’s interACTIVE™ technology. As each band plays, the viewer will be asked to vote for his or her favorite by pressing a button on the remote control.
After all four “Cox Rox” broadcasts, the votes will be tallied and winners will be determined, all of whom will get the chance to perform at the Circle K Tempe Music Festival, which is April 3 and 4 at Tempe Beach Park. Along with the chance to open for the event headliners on Friday and Saturday, the top high school and the top college band will also receive scholarships from SRP, tickets to the festival, a Dillard’s shopping spree and other prizes.
Now in its seventh year, the Circle K Tempe Music Festival has grown to be the largest music festival in Arizona featuring national, regional and local acts including Kid Rock, Cowboy Mouth, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Pop Evil and The Outlaws performing on Friday, April 3 and 3 Doors Down, The All American Rejects, Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman (of Rage Against the Machine), MUTEMATH, Shiny Toy Guns, Vayden, Tongue Dried Sun and Wensday performing on Saturday, April 4.
In addition to the dozens of national acts performing on the three stages over the weekend, the event boasts a number of sports, musical and kid-friendly attractions as well. These include:
· The Red Bull Wake Lab on Tempe Town Lake, the biggest and most innovative wakeboarding event ever created and executed in the state of Arizona. Some of the nation’s best riders along with several Arizona athletes will wakeboard in this revolutionary competition on a course that includes a complex mix of handrails and transfer rails, along with an elevated pool and wall ride built on Town Lake;
· A fully-operational Circle K store on-site, with all proceeds from the store going to the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation;
· The SRP Lil’ Rockers Area with hands-on interactive instruments and music-related arts and crafts as well as karaoke and a children’s musical museum;
· The SRP Music Shack Stage & Garage Band Competition where the SRP Garage Band Competition finalists will battle it out to see who will open for major Saturday festival acts;
· Corona Cove, a traditional beach-themed area under Tempe Town Bridge presented by Corona that will allow event-goers a close-up view of the Red Bull Wake Lab Competition;
· B Lounge presented by the Budweiser Family of Beers, which will act as the official VIP area of the event and will include free food and drink and giveaways from Budweiser;
· TMF TV, an all-access “behind the scenes” interview program occurring live during the festival; and
· Bud Light Sports Lounge, which will have plenty of flat screen televisions so festival attendees won’t miss a minute of NCAA March Madness action.

More than 40 food, beverage and retail vendors will also be on-site offering product samplings, giveaways and other promotions all weekend long.

The event is sponsored by Circle K, Live Nation, City of Tempe, SRP, Cox Communications, Red Bull Energy Drink, Desert Ridge Marketplace, Tempe Marketplace, Budweiser, Bud Light Lime, Corona, Michelob Ultra, Jose Cuervo, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods, Barefoot Wines, Ben & Jerry’s, Dose Energy, Mentos, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Arizona Event Campaign, Inc., Cricket Wireless, Dillard’s, Southern Comfort, NYPD Pizza, Macayo’s Depot Cantina, Cadillac Ranch, Jason’s Deli, Icelandic Glacial, AZ Central, Arizona Republic, College Times, Metromix.com, the Big Bang, Kiss FM, 98 KUPD FM, Mix 96.9 FM, Edge 103.9 FM, 93.3 KDKB FM, The Peak 98.7 FM and Entertainment Solutions, Inc.


Tickets for the 2009 Circle K Tempe Music Festival are available at www.livenation.com, Dodge Theatre Box Office, Tempe Market Place Guest Services or by phone at 1-800-594-TIXX. Two day passes are currently available for $60.00. Advance tickets are available $35.00 and will increase to $45.00 the week of the festival. Special VIP tickets are available for $100 each day, for complete information go to www.livenation.com. All dates, acts, attractions and ticket prices are subject to change without notice.