Sunshine Coast Takes Out the Battle

Noosa News, 2 June 2006

Sunshine Coast band, No Parkin, has won this year’s Battle of the Bands at Nudgee College.

Matthew Upton, Shaun Tobin, Dominic Everett and David Wayth, all in Year 10 at Good Shepherd Lutheran College at Noosa traveled to Nudgee to compete in the inaugural Battle of the Bands on Saturday 27 May.

The band formed only in 2005 and performed all their own original music.

Runners up were also from the Sunshine Coast, with the band The Invain comprised of a combination of Good Shepherd Lutheran students and one Matthew Flinders Anglican student. Kris de Waard, Andrew Hearle, Daniel Everett and Tom Jeffreys, all in Year 11 also won the Sunshine Coast Independent Schools Battle in 2005. They have played charity gigs for Overseas Aid and at the Noosa Fringe Festival. Each of their songs was also original.

Also taking the position of runners-up was all girl band, Sunny June. Bianca McCarthy, Anna Hickey, Annabelle Kirkpatrick, Nina Hlavka and Libbi Swan are all Year 12 students from All Hallows’ School. The band formed in October 2005 and judges were wowed again with their repertoire of original songs.

“I was shocked by the quality – it was that good,” said judge Noel Mengel, music editor for the Courier Mail. “10-12 acts were very, very good. And there were those who could write their own very good songs,” he said.

Other judges were Jeff Reeves, bass guitarist for Brisbane band, Small Mercies, who played support band to Nickelback, recently in Brisbane, at the Entertainment Centre; and Jeff Forbes, of the Music Junction, sponsors of the event.

17 bands competed on the day, with students from St Peter’s Lutheran, Kenmore SHS, Padua, Gregory Terrace, St Paul’s Bald Hills, Marist Ashgrove, Grace Lutheran, Nudgee College, St Margaret’s, Pine Rivers SHS and Dakabin, competing alongside the winners.

The event was hosted by Totally Wild presenter (previously Big Brother contestant and past Nudgee school captain), Wes Dening and was open to band members under 18. The Battle is scheduled to run again next year.