The Dandelion War, courtesy.

A few months ago, San Francisco post-rock band The Dandelion War were watching one of their idols, “Explosions in the Sky,” play the Great American Music Hall.

The six members, keyboard player Dave Tran, singer Larry Fernandez, guitarists Jeff Kay and Mikey Fuson, drummer Julius Masibay and bassist Mario Roque decided at that time they also wanted to play at the storied music hall.

And tonight they will play in the second annual Bay Rising music competition. Tran said Tuesday they didn’t expect that day would come so soon.

The Dandelion War is one of five finalists at this year’s Bay Rising, which showcases local talent and benefits school music programs. The five finalists, who also include Dynamic, Joel Streeter, Weather Pending and BOTB.com members the French Cassettes, were whittled down from 10 semifinalists and will compete tonight in front of hundreds of fans and a panel of judges to win more than $10,000 in prizes.

The competition begins at 7 p.m. at the Great American Music Hall. But for Tran and his band mates, the real prize is the exposure of performing.

“We think we’ve already won to be able to play the Great American Music Hall,” Tran says. “We’re still in our infant stages. There”s plenty of bands who have been together for five-plus years and are still trying to make a name for themselves. Playing a large event like this is a huge honor and will help bring attention to our band.”

The Dandelion War came together a year ago from the ashes of a screamo band. Three members of that band, Fernandez, Fuson and Roque, recruited the new members through Craigslist.com.

“This band is kind of a growth in (the first three members’) musicality,” Tran said. “If you listen to what they were playing a year ago and what they are playing now it’s a complete 180.”

The new band did not know what their new sound should be, but they all agreed they were fans of post-rock bands such as Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros and Radiohead.

“They’re exploring different textures, playing with different elements of music and combining that to make a rich soundscape,” Tran said. “We knew we wanted to make something grandiose, create large soundscapes a la those bands that we look up to.”

Like Explosions, The Dandelion War use shimmering guitars, building drums and crescendos of noise to paint pictures. They make their style their own by using more vocals than their idols. “Larry comes from various musical backgrounds, Tran said. “He sang in a church choir when he was growing up and he was a singer for a jazz band. He adds another layer of texture.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.