April 11, 2011

Night At The Roxy

Bruce Springsteen. Guns 'N' Roses. Jane's Addiction. There is one small venue that ties all of these musical greats together: The Roxy Theatre.

Your Highness 1
(The famous - and partially working - Roxy neons)

Often referred to as simply The Roxy, it's a small stage where huge artists put on intimate shows when they need to reconnect with their fans. The original Genesis lineup with Peter Gabriel, for instance, played several consecutive days at the Roxy - a run that some band members and many fans consider to be among their finest performances. An due to its amazing accousitcal qualities, many performers released live recordings from The Roxy including Bob Marley & The Wailers, Frank Zappa and Van Morrison.

Maybe most of all, though, it's a place where bands go for their one chance at a big break in the business. A huge break. And Eventful managed to get five lucky acts on the sacred stage for a chance to become legends.

Your Highness 1
(Eventful's got the juice)

We held a Demand competition for all music acts in the area and over 70 bands competed for the five available spots. It was a tight race, but the victors were as follows (in no particular order of awesomeness):

- The Internet
- Our Vinyl Vows
- The Red Herring
- Cody Wood & The Orbit Group
- Fraternity Ward

Your Highness 1
(One of the winners rocking the Roxy)

The performance was on Thursday night, April 7. And it was huge! The winning acts knew what kind of potential the night held and really stepped up their games. The crowd was feeling the music. And the Roxy agreed to put on the show for no charge to the rambunctious crowd. The night was a massive success to say the least.

One audience member was quoted saying, "This is the first Roxy appearance for all these guys?? They seem like pros!"

"Tons of potential on the stage tonight," said another fan. "At least one of these bands is going to make it big."

Your Highness 1
(This was just the line for the restroom)

The Roxy Theatre has maintained a longstanding reputation of only allowing quality shows on its stage. Plus, when they open their doors to little-known acts, they only do so with the faith that the bands will prove their worth of the spotlight. The five acts that Eventful provided not only lived up to the Roxy standards, they may have just impressed the right people.

We knew them when...

Posted by wil at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2011

Get Your Quest On

The Hollywood magic makers decided to make a movie with some of the most talented actors available today. Natalie Portman - who has been in the biz for over 17 years, has three Star Wars titles and an Academy Award for Black Swan under her belt - was invited to be a part of the project. James Franco - a versatile actor that charms audiences in comedic films such as Pineapple Express, action flicks such as the Spider-Man franchise and dramas like 127 Hours - accepted the offer to play a role in the film. And Danny McBride - the dude that's really good at saying the F word - gave himself the leading role since he played a part in writing and producing the film.

Huh.

The three of them star in a hysterical film called Your Highness. In it, Franco's character's fiancee is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. The three of the aforementioned stars quest to bring her back home safely and securely. Franco is the suave, capable member of the troupe. Portman is the straight-faced muscle. McBride is the one that's always slacking off and causing trouble. For a better feel feel for the movie, check out the Your Highness trailers.

Your Highness 1
(A massive crowd gathered before the event even got underway)

And to get the fans more involved, they turned to Eventful to hold a college campaign to see which campus would hold the Your Highness world premiere. We happily accepted as we knew that this would be a fun and exciting campaign to be a part of. Though we couldn't have even guessed at how successful it would turn out! In total, there were hundreds of thousands of Demands from participating colleges across the US. A huge chunk of those Demands came from the winning school - UC Santa Barbara.

So, we held a successful campaign successfully announcing a winner. All that was left was for a successful movie premiere to be successfully planned and executed. Again, we were prepared but still shocked at the success!

3k screaming fans
(3,000 paparazzi in training)

There were over 3,000 screaming fans at the Storke Plaza n Friday to revel in UCSB's victory. McBride, David Gordon Green (director) and Justin Theroux (villain of the film) were all right on time and kept the throng entertained until Franco, the fan favorite, showed up fashionably late. “Franco’s gonna be here any minute,” McBride assured everyone. “He’s finishing putting on his makeup.”

McBride autograph
(McBride showing his appreciation to Eventful with scribbles)

The crowd was kept happy in the interim by McBride's humor, a gang of medieval trumpeters and a shockingly detailed and anatomically-correct minotaur making laps onstage. Medieval-esque food & drink was provided - turkey drum sticks, corn, rolls, etc. And prizes were given to those who checked-in to the event through Eventful. Then, at last, the prodigal son appeared. The music that had been blaring over the loudspeakers as McBride and Green spoke to reporters along the red carpet was handily drowned out by screams and cheers when the crowd got its first glimpse of Franco. Yes, indeed, this was a successful event to be certain.

Franco's arrival
(Franco snapping photos of his adoring constituency)

The stars seemed as excited about the event as the fans did. “We’re so glad to be here,” Franco said in reference to the target audience of the film. “We basically made this movie for Santa Barbara.”

McBride agreed claiming that he couldn’t have asked for a more convenient destination to make an appearance. “What’s amazing about that is that I could drive here,” he said. “I considered arriving on horseback.”

Then the moment of truth: The film. There were three screenings at 7pm, 9:15pm & 11:30pm at the Pollock Theater on the UCSB campus - the films actors & director attending the first. Cheers and laughter were reportedly heard throughout the entire campus. No guessing need be made on the quality of the film.

But, you can decide for yourself. Your Highness hits theaters on a grand scale tomorrow, April 8. Check Eventful for local Your Highness showtimes.

Posted by wil at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)