Phoenix-based five-piece The Alchemy Heart won Hard Rock Cafe’s battle of the bands competition Tuesday.
In the band’s third live performance together, The Alchemy Heart performed for over a half-hour to an audience of nearly 200. Their sound prominently features three intricately intertwining guitars alongside extended, booming climaxes and lead singer Israel Whittemore’s soaring vocals.
“I’ve always believed in us,” Whittemore said. “If we can play, people will understand who we are.”
Judged by representatives from radio station 93.3 KDKB and last year’s winning band, iamwe, The Alchemy Heart beat out the other three bands in the battle: the bluesy Joe Draper Band, the pop-punkish Capture Plan and headbangers Altervale.
The Phoenix contest was one of 86 in cities around the world in the global Hard Rock Rising competition. During the first round of the local competition, 162 bands submitted mp3s for online voting, with only the top nine bands moving on. In February, these nine were whittled down over three live qualifying competitions to the final four.
In addition to winning $500 in cash, $500 at ReverbNation.com and $500 in Hard Rock Cafe gift cards, the members of The Alchemy Heart will move on to the global round of the competition. A panel of judges, including E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, will choose the final band.
The grand-prize winner of the global competition will, among other prizes, get to perform alongside Bruce Springsteen and others at the 2012 Hard Rock Calling Festival at Hyde Park in London.
The Alchemy Heart formed just over a year ago, but the members have collectively played together at church functions for the past several years. The band is also looking forward to the release of their self-released first EP, to be titled The Life and Loss of You.
“More than anything, we enjoy playing together,” guitarist Alex Kyhn said. “We thought, the prize would be icing on the cake.”
Altervale had a large following in the crowd, identified by their band shirts. The band ranked first in the first round of online voting. Lead singer Kyle Sanders estimated that at least fifty fans showed up. The band looks ahead to a performance at That Damn Fest, a competition to play at Warped Tour and yet another battle of the bands in the summer.
Ryan Caine, bassist for The Capture Plan, was happy with his band’s performance and the show in general.
“All the bands brought a lot of energy, it was a really great competition,” Caine said. He and his band are going to be recording for their debut album, slated to be self-released sometime in the next few months on CD, which Caine called “the real deal, how it should be done.”
Tom Bergman, a 42-year-old truck tire repairman and avowed Metallica fan, heard about the Hard Rock competition through KDKB.
“I came to the see the competition,” Bergman said. “I liked The Capture Plan and the last band (Altervale). I had a lot of fun.”
Contact the reporter at bkutzler@asu.edu
