ANTHRAX Drummer To Judge Guitar Center Drum-Off Regional Finals In Chicago

November 25, 2008

ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante will be one of the special guest judges for the Chicago-area regional finals of the Guitar Center Drum-Off, set to take place December 2 in Chicago, Illinois at 7:00 p.m. More information can be found on the poster below.

The Drum-Off '08 grand finals will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2009 at The Music Box at Fonda Theater in Hollywood, California and will feature performances by PAPA ROACH, Nicko McBrain of IRON MAIDEN and Jason Bittner of SHADOWS FALL, among others.

For 20 years, Guitar Center has been committed to providing drummers across the country the opportunity to pursue their musical aspirations and achieve their dreams by hosting the world's largest drum competition: Guitar Center Drum-Off. This year, nearly 5,000 drummers from across the country are competing for a chance to win over $45,000 in cash and prizes, and to be crowned Guitar Center's Drum-Off champion 2008.

Many of today's most influential and respected drummers have embraced Guitar Center's Drum-Off over the past two decades by participating in the program: Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Josh Freese (NINE INCH NAILS),?uestlove (THE ROOTS),Stewart Copeland (THE POLICE) Alan White (YES),Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE),Travis Barker (BLINK 182),Adrian Young (NO DOUBT),Shannon Leto (30 SECONDS TO MARS),Brooks Wackerman (BAD RELIGION),Stephen Perkins (JANE'S ADDICTION),Danny Carey (TOOL) and Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN) are among the dozens of established drummers who have either performed or served as judges at previous Guitar Center Drum-Off events.

Past Guitar Center Drum-Off champs have gone on to have incredibly successful careers including Cora "CC" Dunham (PRINCE; Drum-Off '02 champ),Eric Moore (BOBBY BROWN, SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, INFECTIOUS GROOVES; Drum-Off '03 champ),Tony Royster Jr. (JAY Z; Drum-Off '95 champ) and Thomas Pridgen (THE MARS VOLTA),who became the Guitar Center Drum-Off champion in 1993 when he was just 9 years old!

Like all Guitar Center music programs, Drum-Off is designed to provide developing artists with support-based opportunities that vastly improve the potential for their success as professional musicians. Guitar Center's Drum-Off '08 champion will win an impressive package of prizes, including $25,000 cash, a Roland TD-20 kit, and a custom designed drum kit by DW, Pearl, Gretsch, Tama, or Orange Country Drums as well as a drum, stick, cymbal, and drum head endorsement deals, be featured in Modern Drummer magazine, and in a Guitar Center ad campaign, along with a VIP appearance at NAMM 2009 and shopping sprees with Levi's, Converse and Guitar Center. A Monster Energy Drink endorsement deal is also part of the prize package, making the total prize package worth over $45,000. In addition, Sabian, Zildjian, Remo, Pro-Mark, Vic Firth, Evans and Rhythm Tech are all proud sponsors of Drum-Off '08.

Following the regional finals on December 2, finalists will be headed for Los Angeles in January, where they will perform before a panel of celebrity judges to see who will become Drum-Off '08 champion.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).