LEWISTON - Dead Season, a popular band hailing from Oxford, will headline Rave 'n Rage 2008 Saturday, May 24, at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. All told, eight local bands will rock the stage.

Collaborators Global Spectrum, Colisee operators, and WCYY FM hope the event will become a launching point for up-and-coming local acts, moving them from nightclubs to center stage before a large audience.

Other bands scheduled to perform live are local alternative rock bands Radiation Year, Covered in Bees, The Killing Moon and one band chosen by WCYY listeners through a station contest. Also featured will be heavy-hitters Cambiata, Twisted Roots, who opened for Ozzy Osbourne in Portland in January, and the recently reunited 6Gig.

Dead Season was formed in 2003 and has since become the No. 1 selling band to come out of Maine, drawing large crowds wherever it plays. The band's debut full-length record, "Rise," was the No. 1 selling independently released album in Maine in August 2006; and it has been getting much airplay on rock stations WTOS and WCYY. The band also recorded a rendition of the popular Garth Brooks song "The Thunder Rolls," which was one of the most requested songs on these two stations in 2006.

On May 24, Dead Season will release its most recent studio album, "Where Everything's Lost …," for fans to purchase.

"This show is a sign of all that's going on with music in Maine. WCYY is excited to team up with the Androscoggin Bank Colisee to offer this exposure to some fantastic bands," said Mark Curdo, host of WCYY's weekly local alternative rock show Spinout.

Rave 'n Rage 2008 will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets for this all-ages show are $15. They may be purchased at the Colisee box office on Birch Street, by calling 1-877-468-4946 or or online at www.thecolisee.com. For more information, call 783-2009 or log on to the Colisee's Web site or www.wcyy.com.