In a packed house at Lincoln Theatre Saturday night, music fans cheered on their favorite local bands at Band Together’s 4th annual “Last Band Standing” event, the biggest philanthropic music competition to hit the Triangle. Raleigh-based, Jack the Radio won the musical smackdown, taking home $3,500 in cash and a coveted spot in the line-up for Band Together’s spring concert event headlined by legendary duo Daryl Hall & John Oates May 3 at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre.

Triangle-based Band Together NC uses live music as a platform for social change. This year’s “Last Band Standing,” drew more than 500 fans and raised more than $10,000 to benefit Band Together’s 2014 nonprofit partnership with Communities In Schools of Wake County and Communities In Schools of Durham.

“This was another successful and exciting night, we once again topped last year’s Last Band Standing event,” said Matt Strickland, executive director of Band Together NC. “Big Daddy Love, Jack the Radio, Onward, Soldiers and The Morning After each put on amazing shows. The judges had a difficult time choosing their favorite, but in the end we’re ecstatic that Jack the Radio was voted the Last Band Standing. Band Together is always proud to support the N.C. music scene, and the musicians are what makes these events a success!”

“This is phenomenal – we were not expecting to win,” said George Hage of Jack the Radio. “We are ridiculously excited for the opportunity to play on May 3. We are big Robert Randolph & The Family Band fans and, of course, huge fans of Hall and Oates. It’s great to be a part of a charity concert like this, and at the same time, have the chance to get our music in front of such a large number of new fans.”

The winning band was selected by a panel of four local judges: Chris Malarkey, of Lincoln Theatre; Sara Waters, Coordinator for Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival; Taylor Traversari, of Red Hat Amphitheater; and David Shaw, of Yep Roc Music Group. In the event of a tie by the judges, the winner would have been determined by the audience’s vote. Also, this year Big Daddy Love won $500 through an online voting contest hosted by Band Together’s media partner WNCN.

Band Together also wishes to thank the generous sponsors for the event: Bella Monica Restaurant, R.A. Jeffreys, Alston Bird, The English Garden, Red Hat, Wells Fargo, SFL+a Architects. A special thank you is extended to Leadership Raleigh for their tremendous efforts supporting the event as well as WNCN, Band Together’s media partner.

Last year’s Band Together Main Event was headlined by Lyle Lovett, raising more than $860,000 for Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities (TLC). This year, Band Together hopes to raise more than $1 million for their partnership with Communities In Schools of Wake County and Communities In Schools of Durham through their May 3 concert at Walnut Creek Amphitheatre.

For more information about Band Together, visit www.bandtogethernc.org, become a fan on Facebook, join their LinkedIn group or follow @bandtogethernc on Twitter.