518 East Region: Vote in the First Round of March Madness!

Upstateology Breakdown: By square mileage alone, the 518 area code is the largest region in our bracket, covering 24 counties and 1,200 zip codes. Leading the empire of all regions is the Ominous Seapods, an all-time favorite jam band whose heyday lived out in the 1990’s. With a sound closely resembling Phish, their popularity extended throughout all of Upstate New York before disbanding in the new millennium. They are lead dog ahead of Blotto, influencers of new-wave bands who have come out of the woodwork recently to perform live shows. But prognosticators question whether these old-timers have the endurance to withstand a youthful pack that’s close at their heels. Skinless, at No. 3, represents the rising popularity of death metal, and a two-piece band by the name of Phantogram at No. 5 brings its spaced-out synths and samples, along with the following of a quarter-million strong on Facebook. But, the band with the glass slipper at this dance belongs to Lucid at the No. 16 spot. This versatile group from Plattsburgh will throw everything at the competition, incorporating traditional rock instruments with saxophone and even a harp! Jazz, rock, honky-tonk and reggae are all within their repertoire, guaranteeing to have opponents in fits. – Michael Hallisey

All 8 polls for the bracket are listed below – make sure you vote for each!

See the full field of 64 bands and artists!

1 Ominous Seapods v 16 Lucid
2 Blotto v 15 Formula 5
3 Skinless v 14 Digital Dharma
4 Peter Prince v 13 Mister F/Timbre Coup
5 Phantogram v 12 Restless Streets
6 Conehead Buddha v 11 Titanics
7 Stellar Young v 10 Stigmata
8 Eastbound Jesus v 9 Wild Adriatic

Polls are now closed! Stay tuned for Round 2 matchups coming Friday, March 21st!

Comments are closed.