WAPE's Last Band Standing at the Jacksonville Landing

by Kellie Abrahamson
There are plenty of battle of the bands-type contests happening on the First Coast, but none quite like WAPE’s Last Band Standing. In addition to the huge prizes that are up for grabs, the showdown also guarantees audience members four Saturdays of phenomenal local talent on the Jacksonville Landing’s stage, all for free.
Last Band Standing consists three preliminary rounds followed by the finals on August 1st. Bands selected to participate in the preliminaries will be judged by audience members via text message. The two acts with the most votes each round will be invited to the finals where a panel of judges will select the winner.
There’s more than just bragging rights on the line here. The winning act will be the first to perform at WAPE’s Birthday Bash at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, headline the Florida/Georgia game celebration at the Landing and have a free professional recording session. That’s more exposure than most bands ever get.
The first round was last weekend and it brought a diverse group of musicians to the Landing’s riverfront stage. From punk to funk to good old fashioned rock and roll, the ten bands that performed gave the crowd a glimpse at how varied Jacksonville’s tastes are and how much talent we have in our own backyard. The top two acts this time were ANEW and INfinity, two fairly young bands out of Melbourne Beach and St. Augustine respectively.
If you missed out on Saturday’s performances, don’t fret: there are still two more rounds of competition to go, not to mention the finals. Be at the Landing at 6 pm on the 18th and 25th to see more promising bands duke it out for musical supremacy and don’t forget your cell phone so you can vote for your favorite. And be sure to come out again on August 1st to see which of the finalists will take home the big prize. Last but not least, if you think your band has what it takes to be the Last Band Standing there’s still time to enter the contest. Head over to WAPE.com and enter for your chance to snag a spot in the preliminaries.