The Rock Lottery

One of the coolest show themes I've seen is having a tenth anniversary this weekend in my old stomping grounds of little Denton, Texas. While now Seattle has a version of it's own, this is the true birthplace of the Rock Lottery.

An explanation:

"Twenty-five carefully selected musicians meet at 10:00 A.M. at the evening's performance venue. They are a cross-section of the music community with different social and cultural backgrounds, with divergent levels of musicianship and experience. The musicians are organized into five bands through a lottery-based chance selection. The bands depart to different practice spaces and are given 12 hours to create three to five songs (with a one cover-song limit). Each band is asked to create a unified sound while still maintaining the individual styles of the members. At 10:00 P.M., the bands return to the venue and perform their songs infront of a waiting audience."

So badass. All the musicians are hand picked, so it's always the best of breed in the city. But it's really incredible to see the raw dynamic of a band being formed and named, songs written and then performed, all within the span of a few hours. Sure, there's some rough starts and stops, and sloppy miscues, but that's expected with something so purposely unpolished. But more often than not, you get something more interesting and exhilarating than you could see on any other indie rock weekend.