Lethbridge band to open for Loverboy
SCOTCH WHISKEY WINS BATTLE OF THE BANDS FOR HONOUR
In a small room in the basement of Graphcom Printers, four men gather to create music.
It gets hot and loud, but bandmates Ben Gould, Daniel Kneeshaw, Louis Mate and Josh Weadick don’t have to worry about any neighbours.
Tonight, however, they’ll be playing in a space much larger — the Enmax Centre.
Lethbridge’s very own rock and roll band Scotch Whiskey Limousine, formally known as JJ Thomas, will be opening up for Loverboy.
They frequently play at The Slice and The Owl Acoustic, but never at a venue as large as the Enmax.
“It means a lot, it’s been a dream to play a stage that big,” said Gould.
The opportunity presented itself when 106.7 Rock announced the Battle of the Bands contest, in partnership with the Enmax Centre on March 13.
They received 21 demo submissions and a panel of radio station staff selected the top 10 bands the following week.
“It’s fun for us, too, to be able to give these up-and-coming bands that opportunity,” said Christy Ross, promotions director at 106.7 Rock and Kiss 107.7.
The demos were posted on the station’s website and received over 2,600 votes before announcing the winner on March 27.
“We were kind of surprised we won, but it’s an incredible opportunity for us,” said Mate.
Albeit, the past two weeks have been stressful as they prepare for their largest show yet.
“Our bass player lives in High River, so he’s come down a few days early, so basically for the (past) two days, we’ve been going hard with rehearsals,” said Weadick.
“Just to practise and get everything down. Make sure we’re perfect — as close to perfect as we can be,” Kneeshaw added.
The band will be taking the stage at 7 tonight and will perform a 30minute set.
“We want to let Lethbridge know who we are. Lethbridge is our hometown so hopefully we get as much of them in the same room as we can and play our best,” said Gould.