Fri 2/1 8PM
Most of us who aren’t in a band likely never got to be in on the moment of conception — when a bunch of musicians went “Hey, this is working” and moved on to “What are we going to call ourselves?” The Cleveland Lottery League — now in its third iteration — gives everyone the chance to see bands being born at the Lottery League Draft at the Beachland Ballroom Friday February 1 at 8 p.m.
Lottery League began in 2008 when four area musicians stumbled on the idea of inviting their friends in various local bands to throw their names in the hopper and form new, temporary bands with people they’d never played with. Each group would come up with a name, write a couple of tunes, and perform a few months later. The success of that first event generated a second go-round in 2010.
The 2013 version is the biggest yet. At the draft, 170 musicians will be semi-randomly assigned — you can’t play with anyone you’ve played with before and there are measures in place to make sure no group is assigned four bass players — to 42 ensembles. They’ll all play one big show at the Agora Saturday April 13. The Lottery League has also acquired some pro trappings: It’s got an office and practice spaces just down the block from the Beachland Ballroom and an official website.