Talented bands from across Metro Detroit and beyond rocked it out March 26 to ring in WXOU’s 49th year.

Pines, Search the City, Shapes and Colors, Get At Me and rapper Tunde Olaniran were just a few of the artists that performed on dual stages in the banquet rooms of the Oakland Center from 6:30 p.m.-11 p.m.

WXOU general manager Josh Nagy said that this event took many months of preparation.

“I used to be the promotions director for WXOU and I planned the 47th Birthday Bash,” Nagy said, “and I started planning [this] in November…for the end of March.”

Promotions director Jon Kassab agreed that paying attention to details was crucial when it came to the success of the evening.

Kassab was in charge of selecting performers for the event, and he said that it came down to choosing artists that would best represent WXOU.

Local and non-local bands were both options for the event, he said, but it was a matter of what would pique the interest of WXOU listeners.

“[Planning] it was fun,” Kassab said, “but I didn’t realize that contracts have so much fine print. You have to make sure everything is right.”

Working with the bands that played for the Bash required the most preparation, Kassab said, and it was imperative that every protocol, FCC regulation and contract term was honored.

“I’m friends with Shapes and Colors, and they told me about [the event],” Lyndsey Biernat said of her pals in the headlining band.

Biernat said that while her loyalties remain with Shapes and Colors, her favorite performance of the night was by Get At Me, a pop/rock band from St. Louis.

Months in the making, the event drew a crowd that danced, sang and even ate birthday cake in celebration and appreciation of WXOU.