May 29 was a fabulous night for Bayfield's musical talent, writes Louise Chandler.
That night, the annual Rock Quest Otago Regional Finals took place, with two Bayfield bands performing at Union Hall, in the hope of winning a spot at the national finals later on in the year. ‘Crawling JELLY!' was the first band to play on the night.
Year 13's Will Hannagan, Oliver Dearnly, and Ethan Cameron-Tohiariki took the stage to play an interesting ensemble of three songs - even incorporating a small rap piece into their set, which the crowd really got into.
Their bright and colourful outfits were complemented by a big blast from the smoke machine, making their performance very dramatic, with the Rock Quest host describing it as ‘very avant-garde.'
Kane Strang (also year 13) was seventh on the list of performers with an acoustic solo set.
He performed two of his songs, ‘Rusty' and ‘Friendly Giant,' and he had a lot of Bayfield support in the audience with students singing along to his music.
At the end of the night, a very suspenseful drum roll from the crowd took place, and Kane was announced the winner of the finals. Kane will now produce a 15 minute music video of some his music, sending it in with the hope of being one of the six finalists in New Zealand to perform at the national finals in September.
Along with Jeremy Barnes, he is also producing a music video for assessment of one of his songs.
Best of luck, Kane!
