Skip to content

Heavy rock lineup for the Powerball coming to the South Okanagan

Breaking Benjamin, Asking Alexandria, The Wild! and Diamante will play at the SOEC
15122937_web1_190116-PWN-BreakingBenjamin-T
Breaking Benjamin is one of four bands headline Power 104’s Powerball, which comes to Penticton at the South Okanagan Events Centre on April 14. Photo courtesy of www.breakingbenjamin.com

The annual rock bash, Power 104’s Powerball, returns to the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton with one of its heaviest lineups in history.

On April 13, multi-platinum headliners Breaking Benjamin and Asking Alexandria will be joined by The Wild! and Diamante.

Breaking Benjamin’s self-produced sixth studio album, Ember debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Top 200 in late April, selling over 241,000 albums to date. Ember is the multi-platinum band’s fourth, to five debut on the Billboard Top 200, following 2015’s No. 1 debut for Dark Before Dawn (gold), 2009’s Dear Agony (platinum) which debuted No. 4 and 2006’s Phobia (platinum) which debuted No. 2. Ember has already spun off two No. 1 hits at Active Rock Radio with the band’s recent single, Torn In Two granting the band their ninth No. 1 song.

Asking Alexandria have earned a place among the most streamed, downloaded, watched and altogether listened to bands in a generation. They combine the innovation of modern active rock with the traditional attitude of the culture’s trailblazers. On Asking Anthems, The Final Episode and Not the American Average were both certified gold by the RIAA for single sales in excess of 500,000 each.

The music videos for those two singles alone amassed over 100 million views on YouTube. The Death of Me, Moving On, and A Prophecy together account for over 100 million more. The videos from The Black were viewed 70 million times. Made with producer Matt Good, Asking Alexandria’s self-titled fifth album is an unbridled celebration of acceptance, of the strength of diversity and the freedom of “leaning into the crazy” (as lead singer Danny Worsnop puts it), instead of struggling for conformity.

Take the gritty authenticity of the Delta Blues and speed it up with a reckless punk rock attitude. Now roll that into a southern rock cigarette. That is how The Wild! explain their music.

“Even underneath the loud guitars you can hear the love for the blues in our songs,” said vocalist/lead guitarist Dylan Villain, in a news release. “We believe in music with conviction. The Wild! is a mixture of what the blues feels like, rock’n’roll sounds like, and punk-rock smells like.”

In 2014, the band’s music video for their first single Road House went viral on Youtube which led to notable airplay at rock radio in Canada. A year later the song Slow Burn was put into heavy radio rotation resulting in a nomination for Best New Rock Band at the 2015 Canadian Radio Music Awards.

Diamante, the turquoise-trussed singer, had a breakout year with her debut album, Coming In Hot, featuring her latest single Haunted, which has surpassed two million views on YouTube and is climbing the Active Rock charts. She was also featured on Bad Wolves’ latest single Hear Me Now, which was included in Billboard’s 2018 Year-End Hot Rock Songs Chart.

VIP resale begins on Jan. 14 at 9 .m. Artist resale starts on Jan. 15 at 7 a.m. and all local pre-sales begin on Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. Public on-sale starts on Jan. 18 at 10 a.m. with tickets available at the Valley First Box Office at the SOEC, charge by phone 1-877-SOEC-TIX or online at www.ValleyFirstTix.com. Tickets (including GST, additional service charges apply) are $52.50 and $62.50.

The Powerball takes place on April 13 at the SOEC, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:20 p.m.