Jovitalk - Bon Jovi Fan Community - Official Atlanta Thread 1/17

Bon Jovi
Philips Arena
Atlanta, Georgia
January 17, 2006

"Beyond Tomorrow" wins contest, to open for Bon Jovi
By P.T. Umphress, Black&Red
January 17, 2006

Athens is a town inundated with local music acts, but only Beyond Tomorrow — a catchy rock quartet of University students — will play to a crowd of 21,000 people when it opens for Bon Jovi’s sold out show tonight at Philips Arena. (Note: The concert was not sold out, when I checked at 1:00 p.m., but it was very close with a max attendance of 19,300 - RM)

When radio station Star 94 announced its Battle of the Bands competition in which 16 bands were chosen to compete for the chance to open for Bon Jovi, Beyond Tomorrow rhythm guitarist Steve Gagnier said the band brushed it off at first. According to the 19-year-old accounting major from Norcross, the group waited until the last day to turn in their song, “Follow You.”

Beyond Tomorrow’s song was one of the 16 chosen from 159 applicants, lead singer/guitarist Patrick Hoydar said, and a massive wave of fan support via telephone votes propelled them to an eventual victory last Friday in the final round against Poolstick, a band based out of Georgia Tech.

“The first three competitions, we were stacked up against friends of ours,” said Gagnier, citing Helios, State of Man and Legend Has It as more than fair competition.

Hoydar admits there was lots of knocking on wood every morning when the band would gather in their basement to catch Star 94’s Steve and Vikki morning show and see how they were doing.

“I feel lucky and blessed to have won this competition,” said Hoydar, a 20-year-old from Douglasville majoring in business management. “It’s been a wild ride. This past week has been a dream, and I’ve been freaking out every hour, on the hour.”

Bass player Alec Wooden, a 19-year-old journalism major from Stone Mountain, agreed, saying band members haven’t slept much in the past eight days. Class has unofficially been put on hold for the group’s members, and Wooden jokingly added that this article would be his note for missing class.

Beyond Tomorrow began as a duo of Hoydar and Gagnier in 2004. After winning numerous open mic competitions in Athens and acquiring Wooden and drummer Phil Goodwin, the group recorded a short album with the help of Marc McKlusky, a friend of the band who has since moved to Chicago.

With their newfound success and popularity, Beyond Tomorrow hopes to take its music to the next level.

“We’re looking at Warped Tour for this summer,” said Goodwin, a 19-year-old from Athens whose studies as an art major are being put to use via the band’s merchandise and artwork.

The group is saving $4,000 to fly to Chicago to record a full-length album with McKlusky. Though the band has been approached by a number of people aiming to promote and manage it, members claim a friendly loyalty to McKlusky and prides itself on being a hard-working, self-supporting band.