One lucky Newcastle act will be set for musical greatness after taking out the regional final of Australia’s largest ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition this weekend. The Airlie Beach Festival of Music’s ‘Passport to Airlie’ heats are held in 15 locations around Australia, from Darwin to Melbourne and everywhere in between. The Newcastle winner will be decided this Sunday, September 16, at the Stag & Hunter Hotel.
The lucky act heads to the grand final – a giant battle between winners of all national heats, held in Airlie Beach during the Festival of Music weekend of November 9-11. Competitors will be in Airlie Beach with this year’s festival headliners including Smash Mouth, The Church, Killing Heidi, Kasey Chambers, Dave Dobbyn, Ash Grunwald and Marcia Hines. The ultimate winner secures a place on the main stage line-up at the 2019 festival, a $1000 performance fee, four nights’ accommodation, VIP festival passes, a spot on Balcony TV, and the chance to play their own music in paradise.
Airlie Beach Festival of Music founder Gavin Butlin said this was an initiative that venues did well out of, giving bands a chance to play their original music. “And music lovers everywhere get to discover new talent,” he said. “Plus once they get to Airlie we have 15 incredible bands who are all great in their own right and we get to showcase them.”
National event co-ordinator Tony Kon, whose platform Muso’s Garage is used by the artists to promote their upcoming gigs, said this was now a way for artists to be “discovered”. “Another point of difference is that other competitions of this type are ‘pay to play’ – even the punters have to pay to see the acts, but this is free for artists, and free for people to attend,” he said. “It leads to new opportunities for being booked and a networking opportunity – and we’ve got some very passionate musicians involved in organising this in all of the local areas where the Passport to Airlie is held.”
Sunday’s final runs from 4pm and is between LamBros, The Fossicks, Smoke & Rain, Diplazar and Shrimp.
Craig Wilson from Swamphouse Photography, who has photographed all the Newcastle heats, said the competition was too close to pick a winner. “This year has probably been the strongest in terms of entries so far so I’m really looking forward to this final – it’s going to be off the rails actually,” he said. “Any one of these bands has a chance to go through and when they get to Airlie Beach they’re exposed to a different demographic, they’re playing with world-class artists and they’re exposed to those artists’ entourages and management. All of our finalists every year have ended up getting paid gigs and support gigs for touring artists. Plus the Airlie Beach Festival of Music is wonderful – it’s in a beautiful location where you can walk anywhere in town and see any type of music, and the icing on the top is you’ve got world-class music you can see for three days in the main tent – I get goose-bumps thinking about it.”
While Sunday’s event is free to attend, tickets to the Airlie Beach Festival of Music cost $255 for a three-day pass or $130 for a one-day pass and can be bought through www.airliebeachfestivalofmusic.com.au.
