Week #3 of the CV Open Mic Competition Fall edition brought on a lot of familiar faces, plus a few new performers! New bands came out to perform and compete while DJ Alex Updike kept our crowd entertained in between performances. Exciting audience giveaways were awarded to the loudest and rowdiest of the crowd and we were graced with a comedic performance by Matthew Maloney. Once all of the musicians performed and the judge vote by Jesse Tostado of PLab Productions (50%) was tallied and added to the audience applause score (50%), it was enigmatic and popular band, The Hive Minds, who took home 1st place and a 1 hour professional vocal lesson from KAM Studios. The band will now move on to the Semi Finals in November. If they win there, they’ll compete in the Grand Finals for a shot at a MTV Quality Music Video Production from Desert C.A.M. Studios/Winmill Films and award winning Director Chip Miller, plus a $500 trip to Las Vegas from Crater Lake Spirits, as well as an Artist Development Session from Grammy nominated Producer Ronnie King, and a Promotional Photo Shoot from Visions Photography. 2nd place was awarded to the always energy filled band, Upper Class Poverty, who took home 1 hour of studio time from JEM Productions. 3rd place went to Nuclear Cowboys who always draw a crowd and who took home a Gift Card to Burgers & Beer.
THANK YOU to ALL our performers at the CV Open Mic Competition for putting on a great show AND making the environment so supportive for all of the artists involved: The Hive Minds, Derek Jordan Gregg, Sean Poe, Matt Styler, Upper Class Poverty, Rob Lawrence, Mikey , Nuclear Cowboys, Dave Strauss, Mike Sick-boy, VersaStyle, Pete Campbell, Jim Holiday, Skatt Pilgrim, Austin Lawrence, and Matthew Maloney. Also thank you to Marco Thoma for rocking the mic as sub-host this week and to Johnny Carmona for managing the sound every week. I hope to see you all next TUESDAY at SCHMIDY’S TAVERN in Palm Desert! Look for coverage of this week’s event and the announcement of winners in the next issue of Coachella Valley Weekly! SPECIAL THANKS to all of our sponsors: Desert C.A.M. Studios/Winmill Films & Chip Miller, Ronnie King Music, JEM Productions, Crater Lake Spirits, Visions Photography, KAM Studios, CV Weekly, Canyon Copy & Print, DJ Alex Updike, and the Mary Pickford Theatre.
Be sure to “LIKE” Facebook.com/CVOpenMicCompetition for updates! ALL AGES ALLOWED and YOU may compete EVERY week! PLUS Schmidy’s has a HOUSE DRUM SET you can use! PLEASE NOTE: Due to our overwhelming number of interested performers, sign in starts at 7pm and will be closed at 7:45pm. BRING YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY and FANS and note that the competition usually ends by 10:30pm so be sure your friends and family know to stay until the end to voice their vote!!! For questions or information about sign-up, please see Facebook.com/CVOpenMicCompetition or contact creator and host, Morgan James at MorganAliseJames@gmail.com or (714) 651-1911
