London International Ska Festival Band Competition Update: Voting Well Underway

Voting for the 2012 London International Ska Festival band competition is well underway with more than 3,000 votes cast since the competition kicked off in mid-September. Ska fans from around the world have been voting to select one winner from 20 finalists who hail from the US, Mexico, Canada, UK, Scotland, Spain, Denmark and Indonesia. The winning band will receive an all expenses paid trip to travel to London to perform at the festival. Here is how the standings stack up so far:

1. Los Furious (Canada)
2. Monkey Boots (Indonesia)
3. Jamaica 69 (Mexico)
4. Kinky Coo Coo's (Catalonia)
5. Bigger Thomas (U.S.)

In order to vote you need to email the band's name in the subject line of the email to enquiries@rockersrevolt.com. There is only vote per person  and only valid email addresses will be counted.  You can listen to tracks from all 20 finalists on the London International Ska Festival band page. The contest ends on December 1, 2011.

The 2012 edition of the Festival will be held May 3-6, 2012 at the Brixton Academy, Shepards Bush Empire and Islington Academy. Bands already confirmed for 2012 edition of the festival include: Dandy Livingstone (Jamaica), The Dualers (UK), Neol Davies aka The Selecter (UK), The Hotknives (original line-up; UK), The Moon Invaders (Belgium), Los Granadians (Spain), Capone & The Bullets (Scotland). More bands and DJs will be confirmed and announced over the coming months.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I play bass in Bigger Thomas (above), so while I would hope the many readers of the Marco On The Bass blog will consider voting to send me and my band mates to London next spring (I guarantee regular live updates and features from London on this blog if you help send me there), please vote for your favorite band out of the 20 on the list (we are in excellent company).

If you need a bit more convincing about my band then please download one of our albums for free from the sidebar along the right side of the blog and give us a listen. If you like 2-Tone influenced ska then we just might be your cup of tea. If you like what you hear please vote for us. After 23 years of blood, sweat and tears and many ups and downs the trip to London would be a dream come true for us. Here are a few videos of us if you need some visuals to help you make up your mind:

Ska In My Pocket


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