Erie hip-hop band 814 Mean Cliq made it through the first round of the bodog.com Battle of the Bands contest. They were the only hip-hop band entered but impressed the judges and listeners so much they have advanced in the contest that will eventually yield $1 million to the winner.
The next round for them is Nov. 28 at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale. But you can listen and vote for them now -- winners advance through a combination of online voting and judges -- by logging onto battle.bodoglife.net.

814 Mean Cliq members include Danny Cash, Blak Jizz, and Dreamz.

Also, Inspiral has been kicking, well you know what -- in Spin Magazine's Hot Pursuit contest for the next great indie band. The soul/alternative band led the early voting, then dropped to fourth is now in the Top 20 out of thousands of bands.
Inspiral includes singer Timm Swift, guitarists Mike Hammer and Dustin Clark, plus bassist Josh Monacella and drummer Lino Sistu.

Capitol Records checked out Inspiral at a recent gig in Kent, Ohio, and is extremely interested in the band. Inspiral is also shooting a couple videos, soon. However the contest goes, the future looks bright as the sun for this group.

Meanwhile, four other Erie bands -- Waiting For Never, Misery Bay, Deny the Sun, and Shag Nazty -- are competing in the MTV 2 On the Rise Contest.

You can greatly help all the above bands by visiting www.rockerie.com. Follow the supplied links to check out their tunes, to vote and to support Erie bands.

Pollstar lists Adema for a Nov. 13 show at Cellblock. We have no confirmation on that yet, but that'd be cool.

Are you a Replacements' fan? They're not re-uniting, unfortunately, but noted rock author Jim Walsh is publishing an oral history of the band. "All Over But the Shouting" will be published Nov. 15 Walsh covered the band extensively; he's from Minneapolis, just like Replacements.