The Battle for Blaze ‘N’ Glory

With the second annual Blaze ‘N’ Glory Festival coming up this June, the sponsoring Slidebar of Downtown Fullerton has set up a way for one lucky, local up-and-coming band to win a spot to perform in the festival itself.

Rio Hondo’s very own Adrian “Phelix” Felix and his crew Illosophy have entered into The Battle for Blaze ‘N’ Glory competition and on Tues., May 3 was their first round. The Slidebar has set up the head to head battle through social media, having the bands enter online with their e-mail and their social media links.

Slidebar has had The Battle for Blaze ‘N’ Glory going on since April and this past competition is one of many and the battle is set up so that once you win the preliminary round you move on to the finals.

Illosophy competing against three different crews, the order of the night went as; Rob Grimes, Jook & Pro, Illosophy and Ghettoplex.

Illosophy had stood in the back and watched two other groups go on before them, with the audience building and Illosophy set to go on second to last, the entire room was full corner to corner by the time they went on to perform. Illosophy had the crowd’s undivided attention and gaining support throughout the show it was a great site to see.

Illosophy closing out their set with their brand new group anthem, "Wide Awake".
Arlene Torres/ El Paisano
Illosophy closing out their set with their brand new group anthem, “Wide Awake”.

The ambience was enveloping their performance made you want to join in, putting on a show that was sure to reign in the first place win.

Once Illosophy had ended their set the room cleared and Ghettoplex had took over the stage. Featuring two rappers and a drummer, Ghettoplex had a smaller audience but put on a memorable show.

From left to right is drummer Seattle Gage-Chavez, Ghettoplex members; Roger "Big Rog" Jones, Scott "DJ Scotty Audio" Nystul, Berto "Big Dez" Garcia.
Arlene Torres/ El Paisano
From left to right is drummer Seattle Gage-Chavez, Ghettoplex members; Roger “Big Rog” Jones, Scott “DJ Scotty Audio” Nystul, Berto “Big Dez” Garcia.

Sure enough at the end of the night the DJ had announced the winner for this round and Illosophy had come in with the first place win. Felix and the Illosophy crew are ready to go into the final round, which is set for Tues. May 31 at 8pm.

Come out and support your local artist and see who will join in the Blaze ‘N’ Glory Festival on June 4 at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, California.

The festival will feature performances by Nas, Atmosphere, The Growlers, Stephen “Ragga” Marley, Griz, Prof, Hirie, and many more artist. For more information about the other Battles for Blaze ‘N’ Glory visit the calendar section at www.http://www.slidebarfullerton.com or for information on the Blaze ‘N’ Glory festival itself visit www.blazenglory.com.