Young acoustic soloists and duos compete in the second heat of the Ultimate Battle of the Bands in the Youth Booth tonight.
Sahara McDonald, Sarah Foley and Mitchell Holden as "Small 'n' Tall", Max Gunn, Hertzog Burger and Emily Burns, Ngawai Davis, as well as Holly Arrowsmith, are lined up to perform for the public and the panel of judges in the Stanley St venue formerly known as X-it Youth Centre, at 7.30pm.
Doors open at 7pm.
This year's competition winners will have the opportunity to record their original song in Studio 183, Frankton, and the chance to perform in support in Revolver. The best band will play a warm-up set on Queenstown's New Year's Eve stage and the best solo artist will receive a voucher to It Might Get Loud music store.
The ticketed final will the held on Friday, October 7, at 7.30pm.
Play it Strange chief executive and Split Enz co-founder Mike Chunn will be the judges, Chunn for a second year.
"To invite Mike down once was exciting, but to have him jump at the opportunity of judging again is fantastic," Wakatipu Youth Trust youth worker Fi Sawers said.
"He was blown away with the musicianship of our students after he ran a workshop at Wakatipu High School last year and said there was some musical 'magic' here."
7pm: Singer, pianist and trumpet player Alastair Montheath plays jazz and blues at the Friday Jazz Club at Les Alpes. Free.
10pm: Sunshine Sound System, with DJs Downtown Brown and Turbohag, selects hip-hop, glitch, drum 'n' bass and dubstep in Subculture. Free before midnight, $5 afterwards.
TOMORROW
8.30pm: Folk-alternative country singer-songwriter star Mel Parsons, West Coast-raised and now based in Auckland and Canterbury, plays songs from her new album Red Grey Blue and her debut Over My Shoulder, with the Rhythm Kings, in the Winehouse, Gibbston. Doors open 7.30pm. A ticket and CD cost $30, door sales $25.
10pm: DJ Wu and Just Cause, with Downtown Brown and D-Jade, spin drum 'n' bass, jungle and hip-hop in Subculture. Free before midnight, $5 afterwards.
10pm: Queenstown drum 'n' bass supplier DJ Pops is on the decks in Dux de Lux. Free.
SUNDAY
9pm: The nine-strong Scottish "bagrocking" Red Hot Chilli Pipers play rock hits on bagpipes in the Queenstown Memorial Hall. The hall replaces the previous venue, Revolver. Tickets available from Quest and Ticketmaster for $30, or $35 on the door.
TUESDAY
6pm: Paintings, photography, sculptures, stencil art, jewellery, poetry and more by Wakatipu and travelling artists is presented in Artculture, in Subculture. Speaker's Corner begins 8pm. Free.
8.30pm: Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Kevin Smith, Lisa Chappell and Cliff Curtis star in Kiwi post-modern spoof Desperate Remedies (1993), presented to Queenstown Film Society members in Dorothy Brown's Cinema, Arrowtown.
