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Rockquest finalists set for battle

By Jackie and Su YoungSmokfreerockquest logo

The regional heats of the Smokefree rockquest 2008 were held at the Civic on 14 and 15 June.

Eighty-two bands catered for every type of music junkie imaginable.  Styles ranged from love ballads, easy listening, and Christian rock all the way to heavy metal, hard rock, and old school rock (the Beatles era).

A small crowd was there for the start of the day, however as time passed, more and more people started to arrive. There were many parents, proud to see their sons and daughters perform for the first time on the stage, and friends.

Burnside High School students represented both their school's choral reputation and their individual adoration of music by entering a considerable amount of students, more than any other school in the region.

Wet Louise’s cheeky wardrobe

Numerous bands appeared to have designed and produced personalized T-shirts for their members featuring either the band name or song. For example the members of the band, Aftermath, wore a custom designed white t-shirt with their band name printed on the front.

While most bands predominately chose to keep their costumes casual to avoid being made notorious for shocking dress code, the Christ's College band, Wet Louise, was an exception to this rule. They made their time on stage anything but forgettable by cutting two holes in the lead singer's glittering, spandex pants and courageously exposing both his butt cheeks to the crowd.

In spite of this shocking but unique fashion statement, Wet Louise got the crowd involved and clapping to the beat of their music from the beginning.  Wet Louise was undeniably set apart by their scandalous attire but also stood out by the inclusion of bagpiper, who played a small but necessary role in their song.

The Producers, from Middleton Grange College, was another exception to this rule. Although not as shocking as Wet Louise, they were clad and equally accepted by the crowd in their uniformed collared shirts, vests, ties and trousers. The suits immediately grabbed the attention of the audience and had them clap their hands in the air during the entire song. The lead vocalist, Benjamin Childs, made a good impression on the audience with constant eye contacts and a nice manner. It was clear that they had were well-rehearsed . The song was original and it is not surprising that they had made into the regional finals. Well done boys.

Intermediate students perform well

Paralyzer, Strategy and Incision were the bands made up with intermediate students. Of course they were shorter and smaller than other band members, however their performances were just as powerful and energetic. Despite their height, size or age, they delivered their songs with confidence and passion. Proudly representing the intermediate bands, Strategy, was selected to go further to the regional finals.

A Hagely Community College band, Metric Imperial, described their music as “extremely happy and funky with educational lyrics of cooking and politics.” They came up to the stage, not looking shaky or nervous at all, and performed their “extremely happy and funky” song. They walked around, danced and shook their body on the stage. They did very well for a band that did most of their practice just a day before the competition.

Strong solo performances

The highlights of the show in my personal opinion were Rangiora High School soloists, Jessica Smith and Felicity. Despite not being chosen for the region finals, both Jessica and Felicity gave equally phenomenal performances with voices comparable to Brooke Fraser and Bic Runga.

Regional finals line-up

Eighty-two bands entered the Smoke Free Rock Quest in the Canterbury region this year. Of these, 15 were selected to go through to the region final, which is to be held at the Town Hall on Saturday 28 June.

Finalists

Beneath the Silence Kaiapoi High School & Cashmere High School
Custard Bear     Christchurch Boys' High School
The Unfaithful Ways Christchurch Boys' High School
3rd Inertia  Burnside High School
Galaxy Stampede   Burnside High School
Subtle Impression  Burnside High School & Middleton Grange
Skatelly Kat Gang     St Andrew's College
James Hart  St Andrew's College
Celluloid Jam   St Andrew's College & Cashmere High School
Sand Fly Bay    Cashmere High School
Warble Shirley Boys' High School & Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti
The Producers Middleton Grange School 
Strategy Chisnallwood Intermediate         
Morti Humani  Papanui High School 
Trigger Happy Lincoln High School & Hagley Community College

After the finals

Two finalists from Canterbury will go into a selection process based on 15-minute videos of the bands' original music. This whittles down regional finalists from around the country to the six that will go ahead to the national final. It will be held this year at the Christchurch Town Hall on Friday September 5, with a 20 year commemorative concert featuring past Smokefreerockquest successes the following night.

Heats and finals will be held in 24 centres around New Zealand, and footage from several of these events will be filmed by C4.

National final in Christchurch

The national finals of Smokefreerockquest will be held this year at the Christchurch Town Hall on Friday September 5, and a celebration concert is planned for the following night featuring past Smokefreerockquest successes.

Prizes

At stake in this year's Smokefreerockquest is first prize of musical equipment from NZ Rockshop to the value of $10,000, and The Edge Airplay Award with NZ On Air where the winning band's music and video are recorded at York Street Studios with guaranteed airplay.

Other awards reinforce the key Smokefreerockquest aim of encouraging students to write and perform their own music. Individual prizes are awarded for best lyrics, women's musicianship and the best song.

A scholarship to the Tai Poutini contemporary music course is awarded for musicianship, along with selected bands being matched with past successes in a mentoring programme supported by the Music Industry Commission and the Ministry of Education.

More information is available from the official Smokefreerockquest website www.smokefreerockquest.co.nz