The Band Battle is a chance for high school bands to turn up the volume of your truth, get a gig going, get some hard cash in your pocket and just jam your heart out with your buddies!
The competition will be presented by Curro Durbanville High School on Friday 27 June, and all high schools in the Western Cape are invited to enter. The competition is part of the school’s Kultura Festival, which runs at the school campus from Friday 20 June to Friday 27 June.
“Our school has a cultural heart and would like to draw on The Band Battle to help setting up bands everywhere, in towns and cities, and giving them a platform to make music. We hope this competition, which is the first of its kind for Curro Durbanville High School, becomes an annual institution that stimulates creativity and camaraderie,” explained organiser Deon van Zyl.
One of the competition’s many attractions is that there are no guidelines, while each band has room to showcase its own skills, make music in its own style and with its own choice of instruments. “We have already received an entry from a band that even uses a cello,” Van Zyl added.
The top 10 bands will be invited to an audition, after which the three best groups will go through to the final to shake things up on stage during The Band Battle concert on 27 June. The three finalists will perform in the pre-show, with rock legend Francois van Coke, who is also the head judge, and his full band closing off the night as the main attraction.
The winning band will receive R10 000 in cash along with a 60-minute performance at Die Boer Theatre in Durbanville.
Entries, which include an audition video of one song, close on Thursday 24 April and are available online at www.curro.co.za. Alternatively, send an email to Hanchen le Roux at hanchen.l1@curro.co.za for more details.
The Kultura Festival will also include the staging of productions from beloved artists such as Sandra Prinsloo, Marion Holm, Barry Hilton and Early B, the brand-new Nou praat jy! speech contest and a wine festival showcasing the wines of the region.
• Tickets for all the shows and the festival are available online through Quicket.
