Local Boys Make Good: Belle Manoir & A Midnight in Chicago Play the Warped Tour, Tomorrow

Got some cool news regarding tomorrow’s (Sunday, July 1st, that is) Vans Warped Tour stop here in Houston. The Warped folks partnered up once again (I believe, anyway) with guitar string makers Ernie Ball for this year’s Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands, where unsigned/unknown bands from all over the country compete for a spot on the tour.

For tomorrow’s stop, only four bands were selected out of something like 300 who entered, with the winners being Dear You, from Beaumont, The Mid-Summer Classic, from Lafayette, and two H-town bands, {A Midnight in Chicago} and {Belle Manoir}.

I’m afraid I haven’t yet heard A Midnight in Chicago — sorry, y’all; it’s been a crazy few days — but I have listened a bit to Belle Manoir these past couple of days, and despite my old codger-ness when it comes to all those post-emo/screamo bands, y’know, I’m liking the band quite a bit. They make me think of Stadium, back when they were around, or maybe Senses Fail, and the two songs they’ve got up on their Facebook site are pretty damn promising. Not bad for a crew of kids who are either recent HS grads or still attending school out in the Cypress ‘hood; and heck, I’d be willing to bet they’re even better live.

If you’re headed to Warped tomorrow, make sure you check them and the other winners out — they’ll be playing the Ernie Ball Stage between 11AM & 2:30PM, so write it down on your arm on something. And congrats to all four bands on the win…

I should note, by the way, that the way I heard about this was from the mom of one of the guys in the band, and I happen to think that’s flat-out awesome. No, I’m being totally serious, here, not trying to poke fun at the band at all — as a dad myself, it does my cynical little heart good to see parents like this, who are willing to go out of their way to support what their kids want to do. My kids aren’t quite old enough to play in bands yet, but I hope I’m that Cool Supportive Parent myself when the time comes.