Local Grand Rapids Band Wins Contest to Open For Bon Jovi In Indianapolis

Bon Jovi had a contest where local bands all across the country could win an opening slot at one of the shows and a Grand Rapids band landed the show in Indianapolis.

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Bon Jovi Opening Band Contest

The 2022 Bon Jovi tour is underway and 15 local bands out of thousands all across the country have earned a slot as an opener for the band in a select city. Bands were instructed to submit an audition video to enter the contest.

Congratulations to the Grand Rapids band The American Hotel System for earing the opening spot for Bon Jovi's Indianapolis stop on the tour!

Who Are The American Hotel System?

The American Hotel System is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, formed by a group of college friends in 2017. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Jacob Betts, drummer Hailey Petty, bassist Jake LaMotte, and guitarist/violinist Samuel Overman. In 2017 they released their first EP "A Search for Sunken Truth, Vol. 1.

In 2019 the band added a third guitarist C.T. McCallister then released their companion EP "A Search for Sunken Truth, Vol. 2. In December of the same year, they released their full-length album "The Sunken Truth."

Also in 2019, The American Hotel System (TAHS) was named one of BuzzMusic LA's top music acts of the year.

The pandemic in 2020 led to the cancelation of their tour dates. The American Hotel System decided to use that time and be creative and recorded a live EP at Dogtown Studios in Grand Rapids that consisted of four of the band's favorite tracks.

In February of 2022, the TAHS released their second studio album "Interrobang" which you can check out here.

How Did The American Hotel System Win the Opening Slot for Bon Jovi?

Bands were simply asked to upload a live video of the band performing an original song to enter and that was it. When I spoke via email with one of the band's representatives he said they entered the video and that was it until recently when someone from Bon Jovi's tour reached out to them saying they won the opening slot for the show in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 19.

Here is the live video that was recorded at Dogtown Studios:

Where Can I See The American Hotel System?

Obviously, if you feel like making a road trip you can see The American Hotel System open for Bon Jovi Tuesday, April 19 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and you can find links for tickets here.

The next time TAHS will be in Grand Rapids will be at The Stray on May 27 and you can find links for tickets here.

Looks like I have a band to go see and maybe I'll see you at one of their next local shows.

If you are in a local band or just want to check out all the bands that won or entered the contest, you can see the videos here. There are contests like this all the time and this could be a great learning experience to see how bands represented themselves in this type of contest.