It has been just about warm enough lately to sit outside and listen to some bands play at the Algonquin Commons mall along the Randall Road corridor.

While we aren’t quite there yet, the mall is busy planning now for summer concerts on the lawn in the mall’s common area.

Organizers are again hosting the annual Rock and Shop competition.

In the competition, bands can sign up to play over the summer on a July weekend at the Commons mall. They also get $500 as part of the contest.

All the bands need to do to get the chance to play is to submit their demo tape to the Algonquin Commons mall’s Facebook page.

“We are doing it again because it was a popular contest,” said Kim Gilmore, of Gilmore Marketing Concepts, Inc., which does marketing for the mall. “We had over 200 bands post their demo on the Algonquin Commons Facebook page last year.”

As part of the competition, the bands with the most likes will get to play at the mall during the summer.

The chosen bands will get to play one Saturday or Sunday during July at the mall, Gilmore said.

The event is a change from the summer concerts the mall used to host. During those events, the mall would select the performers. This gives the community a chance to select who they will get to hear, and features some more local bands people may never had heard of.

“We felt that hiring local bands was a good opportunity to highlight the local music scene and give the bands a chance to perform for local crowds,” Gilmore said. “Many of the bands brought large followings to their performance and really enjoyed performing outdoors at our monthlong Rock and Shop in July weekends. The shoppers enjoyed having live music and it gave them a chance to experience new local musicians and sounds every weekend.”

The Rock and Shop competition opens starting April 1.

The Barnes and Noble bookstore along the Randall Road corridor is hosting a Build Your Own Speedwagon event this month.

The event on Saturday, March 11, helps bring the store’s three-month-long Lego Batman Movie events to a close.

The finale activities begin at 4 p.m. that day at the store at 102 Commons Drive.

At the event, kids will be able to help Batman protect Gotham from the Joker by making their own Lego Batman Speedwagon.

During the finale, kids also will be able to collect the final two limited edition trading cards featuring various characters from the movie.

Throughout the three-month celebration of the Lego Batman movie, the Geneva bookstore has hosted various events, including a Build Your Own Sidekick one last month.

Kids have also gotten various trading cards at the different events to celebrate the movie.

Everyone is welcome to attend this Build Your Own Speedwagon event and to participate while supplies last.

For information on the Batman fun call the store at (630) 262-8568.

• Amy Williams’ column covers all the news of business along the Randall Road corridor from Batavia to Crystal Lake. Contact her at randallbiz@comcast.net or (847) 894-5036.

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