Undeterred by the fact that the Republican National Convention prevented it from holding its music awards at the Q, Alternative Press magazine has announced plans to go "head to head" with the convention and compete with it for media attention. And it's also announced that All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat – eight-time AP cover stars– will return to host this year’s event.
"We are so happy to be returning to the APMA’s this year to host,” says the duo in a press release. “Last year we didn’t make a lot of new friends (sad face emoji), so this year – we’re coming back as something no one can hate, politicians! We look forward to being part of this Punk Rock Convention. Get ready to vote — stay tuned.”
Dubbed “The GRAMMYs of Alternative Music,” last year’s event achieved over one million views on AXS TV and over three million views on YouTube.
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Alternative Press magazine has announced that its annual music awards, slated for July 18, will take place at Value City Arena in Columbus. Previously, AP had only announced the date of the awards and that they would remain in Ohio. According to the AP website, tickets will go on sale "soon."
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When the Alternative Press Music Awards took place last July at the Q, Alternative Press publisher Mike Shea admitted that he was concerned about where he would host the music magazine’s awards in 2016 when the Republican National Convention was set to visit Cleveland and occupy the Q at roughly the same time.
Recently, Alternative Press used social media to announce that the APMAs would take place on July 18 in Ohio. A venue wasn’t specified, but it's not likely the awards will take place in Cleveland. Because so many of the bands play Warped Tour, the awards coincide with the pop-punk festival. It's slated to visit Blossom this year on July 20 and Cincinnati on July 21. July 18 represents a rare day off for the summer tour.