Since 2011, BandWagon has hosted an annual Battle of the Bands where Northern Colorado’s best local bands compete for eternal glory, the cash prize, and the cover of BandWagon Magazine! Past winners include local bands like Slow Caves, The Burroughs, Its Just Bugs, and Graham Good & The Painters.

In 2023, we are expanding the battle to include bands across the Colorado front range and for the first time ever, into Wyoming. Preliminary rounds will take place in November in Denver, Greeley, Laramie, and Manitou Springs (Just outside of Colorado Springs. One band from each night will move onto the final round at the Moxi Theater in Greeley on December 15th, 2023. At the conclusion of the final round, one band will be crowned the 2023 champs and awarded $5,000 and the cover of BandWagon Magazine on a future date to be determined.

The battle is scored by a combination of judges and crowd voting. The celebrity judges, composed of local musicians as well as folks affiliated with organizations like host venues, BandWagon Magazine, Moxi Theater, The Fort Collins Music District, and Mishawaka Amphitheatre, will be filling out score sheets that award bands for several categories including originality, professionalism, crowd participation and response, and the quality of performance.