More than the Council of Chiefs could have ever imagined, both the 2008 and 2010 shows were hugely successful. Approximately 150 artists formed 33 distinct groups that performed at each show. “No one else has accomplished what we have in Cleveland,” says Sotelo. While there have been similar attempts in other cities including Los Angeles, no other city has presented an event of this magnitude in terms of both the number of bands performing and the tickets sales for The Big Show.

There are other positive effects that spring from the League’s hard work. In 2010 they recognized six bands that were still together after performing in 2008. Also, Sotelo notes that some friendships, business relationships and even romances developed thanks to the League’s musical experiment. Is the League popular? Yes! Will it continue to grow? You betcha! This is one of a growing trend of “cool” things to do in Cleveland.

You can look through the entire PDF here.

…one Saturday morning my friend Nate was over and I glanced on Myspace which everyone was using then. Ed Sotelo had posted a long rant on there about the lousy music he had seen the night before and about how he thought all city’s bands should break up and be part of sports-like draft. I was like, “Holy shit.” Then, Nate and I started talking about it. Eventually I ended up calling Ed and said, “Remember that thing you posted earlier? We can totally do that.”

Four strangers walk into a room, plug in and start a band. A noisy concept no doubt. But as Snuggle Prophet discovered, four people from radically different musical backgrounds — pop, metal, punk and avant-garde noise — could craft a seamless sound.

Well, for 10 minutes or so. Snuggle Prophet is one of 33 just-formed bands in the Cleveland Lottery League. The sports-draft-meets-art-performance features 144 musicians playing with people they’ve never played with before.

One of my first memories of Cleveland was the 2010 Lottery League. I had just moved to Cleveland from Boston where I was a drummer in an indie rock band. I was new to the scene and curious to see what was happening. We attended “The Big Show” at the Beachland Ballroom and experienced the mayhem that is Lottery League. And I was hooked. Such a great concept to bring musicians together, inspire each other, collaborate and create new art. After the show, I was already looking forward to the next Lottery League. A few years later it’s back and I cannot wait. So make sure you don’t miss out on the greatest music event in Cleveland.

Nothing cooler than last night is going to happen in Cleveland this year. Over 150 local musicians were randomly shuffled into 33 new bands; these bands had six weeks to make music for a 10 minute set at the Beachland Ballroom. The resulting music was an outstanding inversion of Sturgeon’s Law. There was a bit of everything from, Japanese pop [Dr. Widget] to death metal [Born Raped [OK, no one else probably thinks so, but I do.]] It was obvious that some bands took their League status very seriously, while other were out to have a fun time.

Read the rest here.