Whanganui Rockquest is a blast
WHS bass-player Tane Venter from the four-piece girl band Straight Lace who won the Smokefreerockquest finals on Saturday night held at the Royal Wanganui Opera House.
PHOTO: Lewis Gardner
Crazy costumes, bright lights and rocking tunes made the Whanganui Smokefreerockquest finals the place to be on Saturday night.
Fourteen musical acts from Whanganui High School (WHS), Rangitikei College and Ruapehu College competed at the Royal Wanganui Opera House.
The top two bands and the two best solo/duo winners from the night will now each submit a 15-minute video of their best material to compete for a place at the national finals in September.
WHS four-piece girl band Straight Lace won the band section. They placed first, followed by another WHS band, Brimstone, which came second.
Straight Lace vocalist, Sasha Matthews, said the win may have been down to their confidence on stage.
"We had strong energy on stage. We were really put together and clean and we put in a lot of effort. We were nervous at the start but got really excited as we got into it," Sasha said.
Seventeen-year-old Madison Eades from WHS took out the solo/duo with her "jazzy soul" sound. She said she decided to do something different on stage this year.
"I was really nervous, as I was using a looping pedal and I have never performed with one before. I was relieved when I came off stage that it all went well and I didn't muck up.
"It was a huge adrenaline rush and I was literally shaking," Madison said.
Xavia Steedman-Willis from Ruapehu College placed second in the solo/duo category.
The full list of awards was:
Band 1st: Straight Lace, Whanganui High School Band
Sophie Brooke, Imogen Eastgate-Moore, Sasha Matthews, Nanea Schurhammer, Tane Venter
2nd: Brimstone, Whanganui High School Band
Maia Falkner, Jonathan Stolk, Victoria Whibley
3rd: Space Cactus, Whanganui High School
James Lee, Michael Petersen, Sophie Wham
Solo/Duo 1st: Madison Eades, Whanganui City College Solo/Duo
2nd: Xavia, Ruapehu College APRA
Smokefree Pacifica Beats Award: Tia Wright, Rangitikei College
Lyric Award: Chanpertional, Whanganui High School for "The Thyme"
Kaleb Lama-Love, Trey Loveridge-Sheehy, Joshua O'Mara-Jackson, Jack Southee
Lowdown Best Song: etc, etc ... , Ruapehu College
The Mainz Musicianship Award: Victoria Whibley (bass) from Brimstone, Whanganui High School
Smokefree Vocals Award: Madison Eades, Whanganui City College
People's Choice voted by text: S!x, Whanganui High School
Noah Belchambers, Abigail Martin, Noah Payne, Isaak Pohio, Jadyn Thorby-Reid, Kobe Titter
By Emma Russell
Wanganui Chronicle 29/5/17
