CD Release - Tour buses band together

Elevado just finished its fourth album and Divided Like A Saint's plans to release a new album soon. So what are two bands to do for a promotional gimmick?

Start your engines, indie rockers! Introducing Atlanta's first Tour Bus Drag Race — a friendly competition featuring the previously owned vehicles of both groups. The clever stunt is meant to draw attention to the burgeoning ISP arts collective family and the frequent collaborators who populate the East Atlanta location. The champ will be officially announced during the show, which follows at the Earl, and awarded a recording contract with upstart East Atlanta label Weatherproof Records.

"The theme of this show," says Justin Sias of Elevado, "is a WWF-style, no-holds-barred, one-night-only, Texas Tornado Bus Match!"

Both groups' vans were easily purchased on eBay with modest bids. Elevado's tan 1998 Champion has been modified for vegetable-oil conversion, while DLAS' former New York State church bus (a red 1991 GMC P109) is in the process of the conversion.

"Slow and steady wins the race," Sias forebodes.

At 9 p.m. Saturday, the hot pursuit begins outside the ISP building (494 Flat Shoals Ave., next to the Earl) then on to I-20 and through Cabbagetown for the "obstacle course" and back to the ISP headquarters. Instead of a victory lap, both the victorious winner and the pathetic loser will then load in their equipment at the Earl for sound check.

Weatherproof Records is also part of the ISP cooperative, so the deal — valued at $10,000 — isn't a completely impartial prize. Most of the various band members have played, worked and toured together for years; so don't expect too much racetrack drama.

Yet while a pit crew won't be necessary, Sias says that the show's co-headliners are standing by — just in case. "The Orphins have agreed to settle all differences with rock 'n' roll," he laughs. So, as the corporate commerce of eBay meets East Atlanta independent rock, let's get rrready to rrrumble! Or, considering the age of the vehicles, rattle.

Elevado and Divided Like A Saint's "Tour Bus Drag Race: Veggie-Diesel vs. Diesel." The Orphins share the bill. 9 p.m. Sat., Feb. 3. The Earl. To experience the ISP Bus Race, organizers recommend gathering at the Earl by 9 p.m.