Space Cactus from WHS celebrate. Photo/ Lewis Gardner
Space Cactus from WHS celebrate. 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 fromthe 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.
