A buddy of mine’s band is competing in a battle of the bands. Tonight they’ll be playing at Town Tavern. Here’s more info:

The Romito Brothers Band formed in the fall of 2004 while Dante and Michael were both students at the University of Pittsburgh. The brothers jammed in a band together, along with bassist Tom Smith . The three spent the next two years writing songs and learning covers, but were still in need of a drummer. Recently Rich Bono joined the band on drums, completing the band’s lineup. Influences of the Romito Brothers include Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Barenaked Ladies, and many more. The brothers are currently working on CD, and hope to release it in the summer of 2007.

The Town Tavern and 105.9 The X are hosting our first annual Battle of the Cover Bands! The X is looking for any bands that are interested in playing the music that inspired them to form a band. They also want to hear some of the bands original music! This is the first time the Town Tavern is doing anything with live music.

The contest is arranged as follows: each band in the preliminary rounds will play a 25 minute set. Fifteen of those minutes are required to be covers of popular songs. The ten minutes remaining are left to the discretion of the bands. One winner from each night will go on to compete in the finals

They are judging this competition through three factors. Crowd noise is going to play a huge part in winning each night. They want to hear the band’s fans cheering and try to get the other band’s fans into it as well. They want to hear everyone in the building singing along to all the songs. They will be counting which fan is showing up for what band. Lastly, the X’s dj the Whipping Boy will be serving as a judge.