Fourteen high school bands and solo acts from Nelson/Marlborough have their big shot at kiwi music success this Friday
night at the Nelson finals of Smokefreerockquest.
A big crowd is expected the Trafalgar Centre after the heats held three weeks ago drew a record attendance. The finals
will be filmed by music TV channel C4.
There is now a long list of Smokefreerockquest success stories that include Anika Moa, The Datsuns, Evermore and The
Have. Who will be next? It could well be of these top of the south bands:
Durban Poison Marlborough Boys Coll
New Profession Waimea Coll
Brassica Nelson Coll
Daquiris Nelson Coll
Leeweigh Nelson Coll
Ever Awake Garin Coll
Remastered Marlborough Boys Coll
Mannerism Nelson Coll
The Velvet Vendetta Motueka HS
Little Black Dress Nelson Coll For Girls
Desire Buller HS & Garin College
Jasmine Fa¹aso¹o Nelson Coll For Girls
Sidetraction Collingwood Area School
Stiggma Waimea Coll
The Nelson finals are on Friday June 16 at the Trafalgar Centre, starting at 8pm, tickets $20 from Everyman.
Heats and finals are being held around New Zealand right through the winter. Two finalists from each of 24 regions then
go through a further selection process that involves completing set tasks and sending in a video of their band
performing 15 minutes of their original material. Through this process six finalists will be chosen for the national
final at the Bruce Mason Centre on Auckland¹s North Shore, on October 7th.
At the national final there are big prizes at stake including $10,000 worth of equipment and the opportunity to record a
song and have it played on the Edge radio station. As well as the prize for winning band, there are individual prizes
for best lyrics, best vocals, women¹s musicianship and the best song - all reinforcing the Smokefreerockquest aim of
generating original New Zealand music. Selected winning bands are matched with past successes in a mentoring programme
supported by the Ministry of Education, and at the national final a scholarship to the Tai Poutini contemporary music
course is awarded.
Visit the official Smokefreerockquest website www.theset.co.nz to access more information, band profiles, MP3 files,
media releases, story angles and more (from later this month).
ENDS