In September of 2010, Rock On Promotions and HW Music joined forces with a common goal, to showcase the awesome unsigned bands that were around the North West and to boost the failing live music scene in the area. The result was Ready To Rumble Unsigned and it was to become the biggest Battle Of The Bands in the Northwest.
With big name sponsors such as Monster Energy, Ibanez Guitars, Tama Drumkits, Rotosound Strings and many more, Ready To Rumble Unsigned attracted over 180 band applications and the online selection process received 17,000 band votes, over 200,000 web hits and 24,000 unique web visitors.
Over a 5 week period, the final 16 bands battled onstage at the prestigious 53 Degrees venue, attracting unprecedented media attention. The winner of each round would take their place in the final with the hope of winning some fantastic prizes including around £3000 of band gear and strings, Online Distribution, a professional music video, photo-shoot and much, much more.
Fans came in their masses and from all over the northwest. Every heat had hundreds of fans attending the 400 capacity club room and we ultimately sold-out our 1st ever grand final. We hate disappointing the fans, so we upgraded to the large stage within the same venue. This allowed 700 fans to attend the explosive final which was judged by a team of VIP guests that included Kerrang’s Alex Baker! Below you can see a short promotional video filmed at the Final of RTR Unsigned 2011 with event footage and interviews with the finalists.
Click here to view the full uncensored video
Shortly after RTR Unsigned, Rock On Promotions and HW Music could not wait another full year to do it all again. With so many new friends and bands who deserved to make it into the final 16, the guys set up RTR Events and put on a bi-monthly gig in Preston for unsigned bands.
We have also been involved with Caveman Bash 2011 (A local biker rally with 1,000+ attendance) where we managed to book Dear Superstar straight from playing Download Festival to come and rock out with the bikers. Also we presented a hugely popular Unsigned Showcase with 5 more fantastic bands which is now likely to be a regular event at the bike rallys.
RtR Events are currently working on more gigs and events with the aim of bringing more bands to the stage and hopefully to the attention of record companies and agents. Keep checking back at the website for more updates on next years RTR Unsigned event.
