Here’s another band that’s headed to the Eastern Regionals this Thursday at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City. Blue Steel is made up of Chris Yoder on vocals, Alex Corkhill on guitar, Jason Ruggiero on bass, and Alisa Gonzalez on drums. And they rocked Harrah’s in Atlantic City with (what else?) “Give It Away” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They rocked the last local stage of competition at Harrah’s Resort with around 1.8 million points.

Three of the friends work together at a health system business, and vocalist Chris is a teacher in nearby Camden. Blue Steel all met at one of Chris’s real life gigs. He’s a real musician. You can see the proof at ChrisandRich.com.

The Blue Steel bandmates, decked out as ’70s glam rockers, are planning to get the crowd on their feet and dance for some major performance points. Are they worried about being upstaged by younger and more limber competitors?

“We’ve beat them before,” vocalist Chris says with confidence. That’s the old school spirit that rock is all about! “Plus we’ve got an edge. We’ve seen the videos of the other winning bands on the Harrah’s web site and we know what we’re up against.”

Guys, your Blogmaster keeps repeating herself on this point, but only because it’s true: if you are anywhere in the vicinity of Atlantic City tomorrow, May 7, you NEED to come to Harrah’s Resort and watch the clash of the Eastern Regional titans. The fourth and last finalist band will be chosen, and it’s going to be amazing.

So the Southern Regionals are over and your Blogmaster hopes to have a write-up of the winning band done soon! But for those of you who just can’t take the suspense, you can follow the drama and the magic that was Harrah’s New Orleans on Twitter.

Just follow the #totalrock hashtag here.

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

Here’s another great plastic rock band that’s going to be heading to the Eastern Regionals at Harrah’s Resort on May 7: Strippers for Stephen Hawking! Don’t let the slightly disturbing name fool you; these rockers mean serious business.

S4SH (an acronym I just made up for them) is composed of Laura Clementz née Ramkissoon on vocals, Ryan Clementz on guitar, Christopher Julio on bass, and Jovanni Fernandez on drums. The foursome are also patrons of NYC’s Almost Famous Tuesdays at the Village Pourhouse, just like the Gurn Killers. Will they show their friends any mercy at the regionals? Man, let’s hope not! This is a competition!

As some savvy readers might have already guessed, Laura and Ryan are an item, and guys, he proposed VIA ROCK BAND. That is seriously the most adorable thing your Blogmaster has ever seen. Rock Band: bringing people together.

Back to unsentimental competitive statistics! Strippers for Stephen Hawking won at Bally’s by playing Disturbed’s “Down with the Sickness” which is rapidly catching up to “Give It Away” as the preferred high-scoring song. If you have any doubts as to S4SH’s skills, you can check out bassist Chris’s YouTube videos. He definitely rocks “Sickness.” But they still bring the fun when they compete. When asked what their strategy would be going forward, they replied: “We wing it! ” They came out with a score of over 2.5 million.

indeed.

Strippers for Stephen Hawking will be at Harrah’s Resort, May 7 for the Eastern Regionals, and so should you. Honestly, all the cool kids are going to be there, so save the date.

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

This past Friday, April 24, saw an epic showdown of Rock Banders at the Showboat in Atlantic City. This was the last local competition at the Showboat venue, and the winners are going to the Eastern Regionals on Thursday, May 7.

Those winners? The Gurn Killers.

You might recall the Gurn Killers from a previous post. They are fun dudes, all incredibly excited to move on to the next stage of the competition. Joel Micalizzi, Chris Daou, Luca Fusi, and Miguel Molinari played Disturbed’s “Down With the Sickness” (NOT “Give It Away”) and scored over 2.6 million.

“It was an extremely close round,” says guitarist Chris. “The bands that bookended our performance were both within something like 50,000 points of our score, and we edged out the second place band by only 15,000.” Sounds like all the bands at the Showboat deserve some hearty applause! What an awesome showing of rock prowess.

So what’s their strategy going into the regionals? “This round’s going to be about putting on a great show for the crowd and letting our personalities shine through,” said Luca, the Gurn Killers’ vocalist. “We are fearless!”

The boys from New York would like me to give them a shout-out on their behalf. A big thank-you goes to the rest of the crew from Almost Famous Tuesdays at the Village Pourhouse for coming out to support them. Reminder: if your friends are competing in the Total Rock tournament, it is your duty to come cheer them on. Otherwise, you are a terrible friend.

Fans of the Gurn Killers can visit their web site and even follow them stalker-like on Twitter. Congrats to the GK’s and all the bands that will be in Atlantic City on May 7. It’s gonna be awesome.

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

Superman ain’t the only awesome thing coming out of Metropolis. Wet Nelson and the Hot Commodities is the winning band from Harrah’s Metropolis in Illinois, and they’re headed to the April 30 Southern Regionals in New Orleans. It’s going to a great party with tons of awesome bands, so get yourself to Harrah’s New Orleans by any means necessary to see it all go down.

Wet Nelson and the Hot Commodities will be there, consisting of vocalist Bryan Severns, guitarist Stephen Ragsdale, bassist Austin Casper, and drummer Bradley Kennedy. Their winning song was, as you might have sensed, “Give It Away” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The four friends have been playing Rock Band since its inception (September 14, 2007, in case you’ve forgotten), and all but Bryan have real instrument experience.

So what’s their strategy? “We plan on having an exciting stage presence, we want people to believe they are actually watching a band perform on stage,” Wet Nelson et. al. says. “The score is second place to performance in our eyes.”

Sounds like a fun time for all. Should be a great show in New Orleans!

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

Prepare yourself for an onslaught of Canadian jokes from your Blogmaster, because today’s band comes to us from the wilds of the north, America’s hat, the land of Mounties and hockey. Yes, the Boom Boom Rockers are the winners out of Caesars Windsor in beautiful Windsor, Ontario. As the only Canadian venue of the Total Rock tournament, the Boom Boom Rockers carry not only their own hopes and dreams of making it to the finals, but the hopes and dreams of an entire cold, polite homeland. No pressure, guys!

Tonight (yes, TONIGHT) they’ll be playing at the Horseshoe Hammond for the Central Regional title. Remember, folks in the crowd have a chance to win a “Groupie Experience” to see the Total Rock finals in Atlantic City. So go! 9 PM!

The Boom Boom Rockers are Ian Hind on drums, Ryan Strilchuck on bass, Matt Haslam on guitar, and Renaldo Augstino on vocals. Everyone except Renaldo is a For Serious musician in real life, which might explain why the Boom Boom Rockers hadn’t even practiced before competing at Windsor!

“Our strategy is just to have fun,” say the Rockers. “We’ve never practiced together. Our first and last ‘practice’ was our stage performance at the casino.”

That’s some awesome confidence! Good luck to the Boom Boom Rockers and all the other bands who will be at the Horseshoe tonight.

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

Hey, remember how tonight at 9 PM there’s going to be a kickin’ show at the Horseshoe Hammond and a chance for YOU (yes, you) to win a “Groupie Experience” to see the Total Rock finals in Atlantic City? Remember that? Well, Pirates with Laser Guns are going to be there. And they’re ready to rock.

The Pirates won the competition at Harrah’s Joliet to clinch a spot in the Central Regionals. Vocalist Kelly Gilio, guitarist Marc Proberts, bassist Mike Isaacs, and drummer Michael “Jake” Harper rocked out to (yes, I know, I know) The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Give It Away.” They also played a striking rendition of Pearl Jam’s “Alive.” Marc and Jake were the ones who heard of the competition, roping in Kelly and Mike to complete their band.

Not only did they win big in Joliet, but it was Kelly’s 22nd birthday to boot, so happy birthday, Kelly!

The foursome from Aurora, Illinois, will be at the Horseshoe tonight. “It has been an experience like none other!” say the Pirates, and this Blogmaster wishes them all the luck in the world. Rock it in the Midwest tonight, everyone!

Just a reminder that, besides this brilliant Total Rock blog, lots of the Total Rock bands are chatting and posting about their experiences in the official Rock Band Forums. If you’re a winning band and you want to brag/share your scores, check out this thread.

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

Hello and welcome to the very first post of the official Harrah’s Total Rock, Total Rewards blog. As you can see from the Eternal Sticky above, this is the place to get all your Harrah’s Rock Band competition info. We’re here to keep you updated as the finals in Atlantic City approach. May 8! Mark your calendars and hipster PDAs. Soon it’ll be time to rock!

Legal speak:

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment.

With that bit of business out of the way, the fun can start! A few quick notes to those who want to follow the competition closely:

— If you want to Twitter about the competition, the hashtag #totalrock is there for your Web 2.0 convenience.

– If you have awesome photos from the competition that you’d like to share, you can add them to Harrah’s Official Flickr stream.

– All the information you could possibly want on the competition can be found at the Harrah’s Rock Band site. Or check the sidebar for the FAQ.

Looking forward to rocking it with everyone,
Your Friendly Total Rock Blogmaster

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.

The Total Rock Total Rewards Rock Band competitions are advancing towards the regional competitions starting in mid-April, there is still time for bands to become a part of music history by scoring a once-in-a-lifetime slot as the opening act for the legendary B-52’s at the House of Blues in Atlantic City on May 9th. To register your band go to the official site.

Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
To leave a comment you must be 21 years of age or older.