Rock the Block 2012

This year, Rock the Block run at the Hornsby PCYC and co-ordinated by Hornsby Shire Council was held at the Performing Arts Centre in Waitara. A large audience was thrilled to see the cream of our young local talent strut the boards with an eclectic show of acoustic music, performance and singing – the MCs were Nathan and James from “The Shambles” show – every Thursday arvo at 5-00pm – FM 100.1 on your dial.

The Shambles

It was a top show indeed … the full set of images from the evening may be seen here “Rock The Block“.

The gig was supported by local business and agencies including Upbeat Music Centre, 2HHHfm 100.1 Hornsby & Ku-ring-gai Radio and Hornsby Council. A group of half a dozen or so independent judges, including 3 presenters from 2HHHfm 100.1 assessed the performances on criteria including creativity, talent, presentation, entertainment, potential, musical excellence and delivery on the night.

Congratulations to the Winners, Jack Man Friday (Jack Shepherd and Alex Cooper) who were the outstanding entertainers of the night, mixing up their talent in guitar and er, challenging percussion with a great piece of showmanship and entertainment. Tops .. but, let’s go hasten slowly here … this is how the night unfolded; first up was the delightful Brodie Miller … tough having to open the show, but a fine performance of acoustic and singing ..

Brodie Miller

.. then we had the strong presence of Celeste de Wet, great voice and choice of backing material all through her iPod … gosh how the world has changed !

Celeste de Wet

The next artist was a very unassuming Antony Murdica … gosh what talent do we have here ! Sure, the presentation may lack some razzamatazz showmanship – but that’s our Antony ! This is who he is and what he can do … magnificent exhibition of various types of guitar virtuosity .. and what a lovely guy he is too …

Anthony Murdica

Steve Crocker then took the stage and delivered a clutch a songs – great stuff indeed … Steve is a natural troubadour – and has a great future in front of him ..

Steve Crocker

Changing the style from guitars to singing and “show biz”, one pocket battleship of effervescence, personality, energy and exuberance in the form of Keira Bellifemine … wow, knocked the socks off the audience – very confident, professional and multi talented … full of bounce and fun as she tore into a mix of routines involving humour, choreography and singing … an amazing performance of colour, sound and entertainment ..

Keira Bellifemine

Another talented minstrel in the form of Josh Brown then hit the stage – this time with a modern rocky presentation of singing and guitar work .. great stuff for a solo artist who would go well in a band as the front man .. reminded me of Neil Finn in the Split Enz days of madness and “Colours” (only those as ancient as I will remember that) – when he was about the same age as young Josh … there you go my boy – that’s your target … Crowded House !

Josh Brown

Last, and as will be seen, not least .. Jack Man Friday !

I admit that when I saw them settle on stage, a duo, one sitting down with guitar and the other sitting behind what looked like a snare drum, a plastic bucket, a tin plate and other weird devices, I thought “Oh no, not another couple of lads back from schoolies at Byron Bay with tatts and a couple of bongos ..” .. I could not have been more wrong !

Jack Man Friday

Jack Man Friday is one of the best young talents I have seen this year … enough said ?

Sure, they carry all the roughness of buskers but there is some real raw talent here, mixed with larrikin charm. Jack Shepherd & Alex Cooper are so well rehearsed and sharp – this music is driving and intense – the sync is tight – the entertainment factor is always there as they muck about and hey, guess what … ENGAGE WITH THE AUDIENCE ! There was never a dull moment so, deserving winners of a well-run and excellent showcase of youth entertainment.

The show was really well MC’d by James and Nathan from “The Shambles” on 2HHHfm 100.1 radio – every Thursday evening at 5-00pm … be sure to listen this week as I am sure they will be raving about Rock the Block 2012 ! Rave On !

L to R : Keira, Steve, Brodie, Celeste, Josh, Nathan, James, Antony, Jack and Alex

This entry was posted on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 5:08 pm. It is filed under James O'Shambles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.