Other activities offered on the day included skating, box tag, and getting your picture drawn by a local caricature artist.
Written by Petrhyce Leather.
Word Of Mouth
Down The Park, is a free, all-ages music festival run in conjunction with National Youth Week, helping to increase awareness of youth issues in the Sutherland Shire Community. The event was run by the Shire Events Crew and Sutherland SHire Council in conjunction wwith National Youth Week to promote local youth and health services available to young people. There was live music, a street skate area, fete stalls, a Red Bull area, ping pong, and other fun activities. The Shire Events Crew worked closely with representatives from various youth health services in the Sutherland area to organise Down The Park.
Young people and their families were the key target group for the festival.
Our aims were; to embrace and celebrate our local young people as a valuable part of the local community, to showcase emerging talent to the wider community, and to promote greater awareness of significant youth issues and available support services for young people in the Sutherland Shire area.
Headlining the day were Sydney-based rock bands, RuinGloria and The Take. Also on the bill were popular Sydney inide bands- I am Apollo, and New Blasé, Battle of the Bands runner-up Fortune Fails and the Battle of the Bands winners Futures in Black and White.
Sutherland Shire Council recognises that there is growing demand for all ages events within the area. As a result, Sutherland Shire Councils Shire Events Crew has established a series of annual events to showcase the talent of local young people. One such event is our local band competition, Battle of the Bands.
Now in its seventh year, Battle of the Bands is a drug and alcohol free all ages’ event that gives local unsigned bands the opportunity to get out of the garage and perform in front of their peers with the aid of professional sound and lighting. Twelve (12) local bands were selected from twenty-three (23) applicants to perform over three nights.
The Battle of the Bands began with auditions on the 6th of March. Twelve (12) local bands were selected from twenty-three (23) applicants to perform at the heats for the chance to be one of the six (6) finalists for 2010.
At the conclusion of the auditions, a professional band development workshop was facilitated by Tony Ward, owner of Studio 57 Taren Point and Billy Hyde Caringbah. The workshop was a great opportunity for all bands to receive advice from people working within the industry.
Heat one saw over 250 people attend to support the Sutherland Shire’s local talent. Of the six (6) competing bands, Toys of Counter Culture, Machines of Me and crowd favourites Tempest Released went through to the final.
Heat two saw over 450 people attend to support their favourite local talent. Fortune Fails, Futures in Black and White and people’s choice Eilish for Burning secured the remaining three places in the finals.
On Friday the 9th of April, over 700 people attended the finals held at Sutherland Entertainment Centre to support the six (6) finalists. Our judges for the night, Sean (Indent and MusicNSW), Nathan (Studio 57 and the Julius Set), Dave (Billy Hyde), Mark (Shire Events Crew), and Kate (Shire Events Crew) were amazed by the talent on the night. The final point score of the night was very close with third place being tied between Toys of Counter Culture and Machines of Me. To the delight of the crowd, second place went to Fortune Fails, who secured a place at council’s Down the Park Youth week music festival.
The winning band Futures in Black and White took home prizes including: a $100 Billy Hyde gift voucher, a 3 hour rehearsal package at Studio 57, a 4 hour recording package, 20 printed t-shirts and 5 printed hoodies, $100 worth of promotional printing, professional photos from their performance, a 30 minute set at Sutherland Shire Council’s annual Down the Park music festival. After winning the 2010 Battle of the Bands, Futures in Black and White’s plan to tour Europe.
Written by Petrhyce Leather.
Singleton Youth Venue hosted its second Singleton Showdown last Friday night, APRIL 30. Three local bands, Dear Infamous, Aplly Effect and Crystal Cove took to the stage to showcase their talent and support Sydney band, After the Fall. Fans of After the Fall were not disappointed- with an energetic set, featuring tracks from their new album and crowd favourites like Mirror Mirror and Concrete Boots. All in all, the night was a huge success and enjoyed by all.
Hey, we don't often get to blog. But, when we do, we like to take it all the way, over the edge, pull it back just a touch to ensure we don't go too far, and bring you all you don't wanna know about what's going on! By the way, that was a joke.
To kick this blog off, the Australian Youth Music Council (AYMC) website is finally up and running. Yay! And its actually a great site- easy to use, great content, etc etc. Here's something we found that we thought at least one person might find interesting.
Young people in jazz radio initiative
Eastside Fm in Sydney have an interesting initiative to get more young people in the driver’s seat as presenters and producers of jazz radio programs. It is led by a group of volunteer broadcasters from the station that have seen a need for more young people to engage with the music and the medium of radio. They are looking for high school students and young adults with an interest in this music to become involved.
This is specific to the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, but it might inform people wanting to do similar things (for any genre of music) around the country, particular in community radio. Check out the full news story here.
Things to do on Saturday
Moreover, this Saturday is jam packed full of things to see, hear and do. If you're into experimental sounds and music, there's a fantastic live performance of experimental and exploratory sounds, across all genres. High Reflections, is a series, and this weekend's edition will be the ninth in the series. Performances will begin from 8PM-11PM with artists: Hell Spirits, The Singing Skies, and Emily McDaniel. There could be a small fee involved- $7 is the figure I'm being told about, but I couldn't for the life of me find out any more than that.
If you happen to be in or near Alexandria at around lunchtime on Saturday- why not head over the Studio 301 for FBi's Music Open Day. There'll be a bunch of special industry guests who will be able to give you advice on your music. There will also be a free BBQ, and for those who are of legal drinking age, that is to say- aged 18 or over- there will be some alcholic refreshments provided too. PLUS, open day alumni GUINEAFOWL will give a live performance. Wow, what a fantastic day this will be. And hey, Indent and MusicNSW will be there. So if you wanna meet and greet with us, or have any burning questions for us, rock up and say HI!
For now, that is all.
