In the spirit of Spinal Tap, Seattle’s tech community will be taking it “up to 11” on Friday, Oct. 25th as we swarm the Showbox Sodo for our first-ever “Battle of the Geek Bands.” Get your tickets — just $5 — here!
What do you say? Geeks and rock-and-roll don’t go together?
Well, obviously you’ve never seen this Devo-esque talent show performance from Revenge of the Nerds. Now, we may not have Booger on guitar, or Lamar busting out the break dancing moves. But we’re excited to see what Seattle geeks can do when we turn over one of the biggest concert venues in the city to creative coders and musically-inclined engineers.
Up to five Seattle area tech companies will be dueling on-stage, trying to outperform one another in front of our celebrity judging panel. (Editor’s note: Three of the five slots have already been claimed, so make sure to reach out to GeekWire’s Daniel Rossi at daniel@geekwire.com about entry fees and other details).
The Battle of the Geek Bands will follow our big Startup Day conference, taking place at the Showbox Sodo from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 25th. After listening to inspiring talks by the likes of Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, Gov. Jay Inslee and Smartsheet.com CEO Brent Frei, we’ll open the doors at 5 p.m. for the after party and Battle of the Geek Bands.
Each band will get 12-minutes on stage — equivalent of about three songs (Please, no Rush, Led Zeppelin or Lynyrd Skynyrd tributes). Make sure to sign up under the $5 ticket type for the after party, or come and join us for the entire day.
Here’s a look at our lineup of bands thus far. Who do you think will grab the crown for geekiest tech band in Seattle? And does your company have what it takes to compete?
“The Tax Authorities” from Avalara
Thys Wallwork, manager and lead guitar of The Tax Authorities: “We’ve audited all of the other bands and, guess what, they owe penalties and interest. The Tax Authorities are coming and no one is exempt from our groove.”
“Double Down” from Double Down Interactive
Band quote: “One of the great things about Seattle’s culture is that everyone has their career which they’re extremely passionate about. But then they also have their ‘other’ thing they do that brings them joy, whether they’re an artist, musician, dancer, fire juggler, etc. DoubleDown is very grateful and excited for the opportunity to play the GeekWire Battle of the Bands.”
“The Packet Droppings” from ExtraHop
Band quote: “(We are) primed and ready to rock your bits off!”
A big thanks to our sponsors for helping to make Startup Day and the Battle of the Geek Bands after party possible: Wave Business Solutions, Moz, Knoll, Double Down Interactive, the Museum of History and Industry, Avalara, Perkins Coie and TechStars (which is holding its Demo Day and after-party the day before). Startup Day and the Battle of the Geek Bands is proud to be the capstone event of Seattle Startup Week, taking place from Oct. 18 to Oct. 25. For additional sponsor opportunities, contact GeekWire Chief Business Officer Daniel Rossi at daniel@geekwire.com.
Get your GeekWire Startup Day tickets and Battle of the Geek Bands tickets below. Looking forward to seeing everyone — including any Nigel Tufnel impersonators — on Oct. 25!
