SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST 2015 – Waikato finals on 19 June

SMOKEFREEROCKQUEST 2015 – Waikato finals on 19 June

It’s the big night of the year for youth music in Hamilton next Friday as the top bands and solo/duo performers in the Waikato play off in the regional final of Smokefreerockquest 2015.

The top ten bands and three solo-duos to play off on Frinday 19 June at Clarence Street Theatre were selected at heats held last month.

Smokefreerockquest founder and director Glenn Common said Smokefreerockquest offers the entrants on Friday night a platform for live performance that builds on what they have learnt at school.

“The support that contemporary musicians get in schools these days is evident in the number of young musicians that get to performance standard,” he said. “Secondary school teachers offer tuition and encouragement, create space for bands and soloists to practise, they come along to support them at Smokefreerockquest and help them to get the most value from the experience of entering SFRQ – before, during and after.”

He said the professional performance environment offered by SFRQ included a stage set up with lights, sound, projection and technical support in a show that includes a guest band, MC and lots of giveaways.

There are 13 acts competing to join the ranks of Kiwi music success at the Waikato regional final.

The top three solo/duos for Waikato, selected at the heats are:

Trae Aitken Piopio College
Situation vacant Hamilton Boys' High School
Solomon the crook St Peter's School (Cambridge)

The top 10 bands to play off at the regional final are:

Kids Waikato Diocesan School For Girls
Half Eaten Pie Te Awamutu College
Mi Rola St Peter's School (Cambridge)
El Jay Hall Cambridge High School
The Other Guys St Peter's School (Cambridge)
T.R.B Hauraki Plains College
The Land of Woo Hauraki Plains College
Buko Panda St Johns College (Hillcrest)
Square Pegs Morrinsville College
Nevada Hillcrest High School

The Waikato regional final at Clarence Street Theatre on Friday 19 June, 7pm, tickets are $10 school students and $20 adults from Ticketek or at the door. The guest band is

At the regional final the top two bands are selected to go into the national finalists’ judging pool, other awards and prizes are presented and the top two solo/duos play off for first and second place, with both going on to the judging pool for the national final.

Smokefreerockquest, powered by Rockshop, has national winners’ prize packages for bands and the solo/duo winners, that includes $22,000 in Rockshop vouchers, a $20,000 NZ On Air recording, video and promo package’ a ‘Decent Exposure’ campaign on FOUR, a photo shoot with Thievery Studio, a branding package from Imaginary Friends and the Unleashed Travel ambassador award – a seven day trip to Fiji.
There is also the MAINZ (Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand) Scholarship for Outstanding Musicianship, the APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Lyric Award, the Lowdown Best Song Award and the Smokefree Women’s Musicianship Award. The People’s Choice award is voted by text, with the opportunity to open the Smokefreerockquest national final.

More info at sfrq.co.nz or facebook.com/thesfrq

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