Sat 4/11 @ 6:30PM
Lottery League is back! It debuted in 2008, intended as a triennial event. So it’s now presenting its seventh season.
What is it? Basically, it signs up a bunch of diverse northeast Ohio musicians, puts their names in a hopper, shakes them up and assigns them to brand-new bands — no playing with anyone you’ve ever played with before. Each new band has two months to come up with a ten-minute set (and often strange costumes) which they play at the culminating all-day “BIG SHOW.” With each iteration, the musicians and the music they come up with have gotten more and more diverse.
The 2026 Lottery League season kicks off this week with The Draft on Saturday April 11. That’s when the more than 170 musicians who’ve been tapped for this edition find out who they’re playing with. It takes place at Ingenuity Cleveland where they’ll be “drafted” into 40 new quartets. Then they head off to woodshed until the BIG SHOW MMXXVI on Saturday June 27, also at Ingenuity’s space in the Hamilton Collaborative.
Doors open for the draft at 6:30pm and the draft begins at 7:30. There’ll be performances by Upper Wilds, Swisher and the School of Rock Cleveland West house band. There’ll be vendors, food and a bar onsite. Admission is free; no registration required. All are welcome!
Keep up with Lottery League here.