Audio By Carbonatix
Ultimate Music Xperience
, Saturday, March 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, March 24, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., at the Soiled Dove, is a marathon audition for acts hoping to play the annual People’s Fair, which funds the mighty civic efforts of Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods. For fans, it’s a chance to hear more than 65 up-and-coming bands do two songs each while a CHUN-selected panel of local music experts looks on. (About 350 bands applied to audition; twenty of those selected to try out will land Fair gigs.) To many working musicians, the merits of participating in such an event are hard to measure: The People’s Fair gig is unpaid, and those who perform benefit only from the elusive “exposure.” But politics aside, the UMX is a two-day talent show of impressive scope and earnestness, as fans get to watch aspiring artists (such as the New Majestics, pictured above at their 2001 audition) step up to the plate to take their best swing. Free admission and the event’s early hours mean you have no excuse for not attending.
