It's Official. We're L.A.

Our musician friends like to argue that battles of the bands are what's wrong with the "scene" today. Acts selling tickets to friends who vote? Still, losing is really the most punishing critique. That said, Trash City Entertainment and Gunslinger Promotions present the first in their “Clash in the Desert” series with the Frostbite Fight Battle of the Bands and Live Tattooing Event at The Sets.

Five shows will equal five winners performing for a chance at a cash prize and what Gunslinger’s Vicki McFarland calls "an exorbitant amount of studio time, with the possibility of adding [a] record deal to all of that." Trash City’s Chris McLennan says of the bands, “They . . . are selling tickets for the privilege of being on stage and getting voted for." Hmmm. Sounds vaguely L.A. sleazy, though the event is technically, we suppose, sell-to-play.

Vile Existence, XLP, The Facilities, Euphrates, and Borg are the first-round competitors. Lending moral support are the heavy-metal-loving God’s Girls and Suicide Girls. The Malefic Ink Girls will also be on hand along with the tattoo artists of Malefic Ink.