Happy 5th Birthday, Rock Band 4!
We’re so excited to be spending another trip around the sun providing awesome DLC and weekly challenges for all Rivals players. This anniversary is certainly a momentous occasion – half a decade of Rock Band 4.
We have a lot of awesome things planned for this anniversary despite, ya know, being stuck in a global pandemic. Ideally, we’d be up to some crazy antics in the office, sharing cake, reminiscing… but this time we have to do our best to party it up while we’re socially distant.
Let’s start with this week in DLC. We’re bringing you 4 incredible songs from 4 equally as incredible local, New England acts. And the best part? It’s all for free, baby.
Blame it on Whitman is a band from Boston, Massachusetts. Their style is very focused on impassioned, belted vocals and upbeat emo and punk-like rhythms. Guitarists and bassists will enjoy the dynamic riffs in their song “Some1Else”, which will be part of this awesome free 4 pack of songs. “Some1Else” hails from their full-length album, Everything Is Fine…, which released back in July. The good folks of Blame it on Whitman describe this debut album and the message behind the songs within as “cataloguing the heartbreak, the loneliness, the lows, the highs, the part where you get better but then the inevitable happens and you end up right back where you started.”
Hailing from spooky Salem, Massachusetts, Radio Compass is bringing you “Run with You”. Radio Compass is a rockin’ group of incredibly talented folks that bring us no shortage of satisfying riffs and hooks that will invade your brain for days to come (in the best way). The female-fronted powerhouse band brings us “Run with You”, and regardless of your preferred Rock Band instrument, your entire crew will find no shortage of things to love about this track, and the urge to dance along.
South of us, in Rhode Island, reside the good folks in Ravi Shavi. Ravi Shavi’s third and newest full-length album, Special Hazards, released back in July of this year and made waves in the local music scene. “Masquerader” appears on Special Hazards and has a uniquely retro pop-meets-new wave sound, with Rafay Rashid’s vocals commanding attention over intricate guitar riffs and a rhythm section that keeps the upbeat pace. We’re excited to see your high scores on this one.
Lastly, but certainly not least, we’re bringing you the grooviest of brand new tunes from Toad and the Stooligans – another group of Rhode Island natives. The band seamlessly blends genres into something uniquely theirs, and addicting to listen to. Toad and the Stooligans dropped their second full-length album – Jesus Juice – less than two weeks ago and it’s more than worth a listen. The lead single, and part of this free DLC pack, is “Stevie Sees”. Packed with a catchy flow, a funky horn section, and exciting riffs, this song will no doubt be one of your crew’s new favorites in Rock Band.
VIDEO: Rock Band 4 DLC Week of 10/08: 5th Anniversary Free DLC Pack!
If a pack of four free songs, featuring some of the best up-and-comers we’ve ever known, isn’t enough to tickle your fancy – there’s more.
All this week on our social media pages, we’ll be picking random folks who interact with us to win a random assortment of 5 DLC songs for their library. Talk to us, we’ll talk back… and you could win some DLC! Keep an eye on your DMs. We also have a giveaway happening now, click here to enter for a chance to win a REAL Fender Stratocaster guitar or (Xbox only) Rock Band 4 Band in a Box bundle!
We’ll also be streaming this Thursday to celebrate, and to draw the winners of the giveaway mentioned above. Hang out with us and share your favorite Rock Band 4 memories and stories while we jam out in a 4-player S.O.M.P. session. We’ll be answering your questions, giving away more DLC, and opening up some more rad bundle giveaways.
Again, thank you all for 5 wonderful-beyond-words years of Rock Band 4. We seriously could not have gotten here without our dedicated community, and you deserve to be recognized for how awesome you are more often. If you’ll recall, last month we put out a call for folks to hop onto a Zoom call with Troy and I to share stories, laughs, and to say happy birthday to Rock Band 4. We’d love to debut the celebration video now, and give a warm thank you to everyone who was able to participate. Maybe you’ll recognize some faces.
VIDEO: Rock Band 4's 5th Birthday Community Celebration!
*Please note that this week’s DLC tracks will be available for a free download on Thursday, October 8th.