I have always had a very on-again, off-again relationship with 97x’s Next Big Thing. The first one I attended was NBT 3 back in 2003, when the mini-outdoor music festival was held at Clearwater’s Coachman Park. It was the year after my first Warped Tour and I was in need of something to hold me over until the summer came again. That year the lineup included A.F.I, The Ataris, Dashboard Confessional, Fuel, Hoobastank, Less Than Jake, Smile Empty Soul, Something Corporate, Switchfoot, and Yellowcard – also the Airwalk BMX team. I made attempts to attend a few other NBTs here and there, but my interest was not really sparked again until 2007 when, in my opinion, 97x put together their best bill to date.
As of today, the line-up for NBT 9 has been announced and, I must say, this group contains enough good artists to make me want to dole out the cash for another go ‘round. This year’s line-up consists of a mixture of NBT veterans and newbies, bands that are already very big names and a couple that a lot of people will not be familiar with prior to the show.
Though I admit I haven't listened to the radio in quite a few years, I always look out for the year’s Next Big Thing lineup and follow the crew of 97x on Twitter. Over the past few days, they've been announcing NBT bands in groups of threes to the salivating hoards of Xers just dying to know who's going to be hitting the stage at Ford Amphitheatre this coming December. A couple of months back, I read along as the search for Next Big Thing 9 bands was underway. I remember a particular tweet asking followers if they knew and liked Metric, and I went nuts! At that point I was certain they were going to be on this year’s line-up and that single band was enough to make me decide I was going.
I was very pleased to see today that I would not have to settle with enjoying just one band this year and I think there might be a little something for everyone at NBT 9. The line – up is as follows:
