Spirit of the Rockies (Rockiesfest) 2026 debuted a new Friday evening feature – Spirit of Sound: The Stage Challenge. A good old battle of the bands.

Six bands populated with Cranbrook and Kimberley residents took to the stage at the Bocce Pits at Balment Park vying for a grand prize of $1,000 and the right to open for Flatline Phoenix during the Saturday concert and dance at the Cranbrook Curling Centre.

The band finishing second earned $750 and third received $500. Both bands earned the right to hit the Saturday Afternoon Stages at the Central Fairgrounds.

The warm and sunny evening got rolling with two-piece outfit Charity Standing Orders waking everyone up seated nearby and in the bocce pits.

Next up was Brotherhood of Lost Souls with a greasy, grinding, gritty and great set.

The third band to hit the stage was the raw and thrilling three-piece Landslide (lead image above).

The fourth band to play was the three-piece grandparents and grandson unit The Bliss, laying down a punk set.

The All New Hoodikatz brought their party groove and antics with a sizzling set featuring powerful vocals.

And Lo/Hi, a four-piece outfit with fierce energy, snarl and soaring vocals, concluded the evening’s battle.

Judging, conducted by seasoned local musicians Suzie Tiffany and Dave Standing, along with crusty journalist and music freak Ian Cobb, was based on: musicianship; stage presence; originality and song choice; overall performance; audience reaction.

Taking home the grand prize was the youthful but sharply talented Landslide.

Second place went to The All New Hoodikatz and third to Brotherhood of Lost Souls.

All six acts provided a glimpse into the depth and range of musical talent in this neck of the woods.

The event was neatly staged with the help of the hard-working Keon Chung, owner of Just Music, along with joint emcees Tom Shypitka, who handled the stage, and Jason Wheeldon assigned the task of amusing folks between sets.

Shypitka raved about the battle victors.

“The ultimate winner was Landslide! Three young up and comers who blew my mind with their Alt-Rock vibe, juicy instrumentals, and killer solos.”

Brotherhood of Lost Souls bassist and rock n roll chronicler extraordinaire Ferdy Belland added: “A heartfelt congratulations to the boys in Landslide (guitarist-vocalist Dustin Colbert, bassist Alex Phillips, drummer Daniel Phillips) for their well-deserved victory at last night’s Rockiesfest Battle of the Bands!

“They kicked out a spirited performance (drawing musical influence from grunge-rock and electric blues) which captured all that is awesome about Cranbrook’s modern-day Youth Music environment and proved that they are the leaders among the current teenage bands who keep the flames of Rock and Roll alive here in the Kootenays.

“Good Luck to them as they move on to share the stage with Flatline Phoenix at the Cranbrook Curling Centre tonight, and I do hope today’s crowd embraces them and enjoys them the way we all did in the bocce pits last night. Life is better at earsplitting volume.”

Photos by Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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