PORTLAND- Twenty-five original high-school bands will compete for the title of Best Young Band in the State of Maine in Reindeer Records’ 24th annual Rock-Off competition in April.

Young rock musicians will crank out original tunes Sunday, April 6 and 13, at McAuley Performing Arts Center, 637 Stevens Ave.

Each band is judged on numerous elements in three major categories: live showcase performance, original material and marketability. A separate panel of judges evaluates each category, and audience vote is also part of a band’s overall score. Bands with the top five highest overall scores will make it into the finals, slated for Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 11.

One additional band will be “saved” as the MaineToday.com Wildcard Band – the band with the highest combination of online poll votes and text messaging votes.

Bands will begin playing at about 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 per showcase in advance; $12 per showcase at the door. Call Reindeer at 857-9002 or log on to www.reindeergroup.org.

This year’s lineup of Rock-Off hopefuls:

9th Rail, Brunswick High School; Afro Chinstrap, Yarmouth High School; Better Than, Gray-New Gloucester High School; Cato Street Conspiracy, North Yarmouth Academy; Crash The End, Mt. Ararat/Cheverus high schools; Crossed Out, Gorham High School; Ego Trip, York High School; Fight of the Fading, Leavitt Area High School; Giraffe, Mount Desert Island; Graffiti, Mount Desert Island; Grand Theft, Rangeley High School; Infrasonic, Scarborough High School; Introducing .., Windham High School; Miles Away, Freeport High School; Minor Detail, Yarmouth High School; Not Quite and Falling, Greely High School; Of Riots and Outbreaks, Cony High School; Park Street Breakdown, Freeport High School; Skapow! of Scarborough High School; Skosh, Buckfield High School; The Blue Stream Band, Sanford High School; The British Incline, Falmouth High School; The Good Times, Old Orchard Beach High School; The Mark Gennaro Band, Portland High School; and The Two-Bit Matthews, Scarborough High School.