British rock band Verra Cruz was named as the winning band of the Gibson Guitar and Olympus LS-10 Unsigned contest. Verra Cruz will now open on the Gibson Stage at the Download Festival on Saturday 14th June. The band was chosen by a distinguished panel of music industry insiders: Kerrang’s Katie Parsons, BBC Radio 1’s Dan Carter and industry A & R specialist Olivier Behzadi.
Verra Cruz was chosen to perform on the Gibson stage at Download from over 350 unsigned bands that entered this unique online contest. A & R specialist Olivier Behzadi said “The Verra Cruz clip had all of the judges on the edge of their seats. A superb 3 piece and a great performance….they were HUGE! All the judges were unanimous, ‘‘we’ve found our winner’’.
Marc James lead singer of Verra Cruz said of his bands win “We are honoured (and a bit shocked) to be given the opportunity to rock at the Download Festival on Saturday 14th. In the video that we posted, I was playing my 1950's Gibson Lap Steel, it will be coming home to grace the Gibson stage, bring it on”
Verra Cruz also wins VIP passes for the day, van hire with a tank of petrol, hotel accommodation and an Olympus LS-10.
What the UK Rock Press says of Verra Cruz
“This is modern, meaningful rock music, with stadium-sized riffs and serious messages.” –Classic Rock
“If their choruses don’t work under your skin! This is a solid hard rockin’ collection.” -Kerrang!
“Sounding a little like Pearl Jam and a bit more like Audioslave, Verra Cruz is one to look out for.” – Rocksomething.com
Gibson Guitar is once again sponsoring the third stage at Download Festival which will see new bands such as Slaves To Gravity, Big Linda, Testament, Dillinger Escape Plan, Jonathan Davis (Korn), Mexicolas, Saxon, Kill Hannah, Voodoo Six, Haunts, Blackhole and Beat Union perform to the 2,000 capacity audience on the 13th, 14th and 15th June 2008.
Over 80,000 rock fans will attend Europe’s largest three-day heavy metal festival. This year’s line-up will see rock veterans Kiss, The Offspring and Lost Prophets headline on the main stage with support coming from Motorhead, Judas Priest, Incubus, Fighstar, Bullet For My Valentine and Kid Rock to name a few.
For more information on the Winning Band, Verra Cruz, visit myspace.com/verracruz or www.verracruz.com
