The College rock band programme is running red hot this year with several bands covering all age levels. Each band has not only been crafting cover songs but have also been song writing and pouring out screeds of original, new material. Song writing and rock music have featured heavily in the department in recent times with the invention of K-Rock, the College's rock and audio engineering programme which now operates in the Music Centre during every holiday break. The rock section at House Music has provided another avenue for rock performance where students now have the opportunity to rock out with a mammoth sound system and huge College crowd.

On Saturday night the 'Rock Your Sox Off' gig was a great showcase of these bands, their original songs and was a great celebration of the hours of practice the students took perfecting them. The four-piece band, Cheese opened the bill with a cover of Wiz Khalifa's rap-rock song 'See you again' from the 'Furious 7' soundtrack, and an original song, 'Blah Blah Blah.' Pseudon then took the stage to perform a number of cover songs by legendary artists, including Joan Jett and Pink Floyd. The old school rock theme was continued with The Leftovers hitting the high notes of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing.' The choice of songs really demonstrated that the students know the history of the genre as well as their way around the instruments and microphone!

The set by the Viona Silao Trio brought a more modern flavour with two covers including Jason Mraz's 'I'm Yours'. Rock heavyweights Shihad and Red Hot Chili Peppers featured among the covers by XY, who also performed an original number, 'Can I be Honest.' With The Crowd rounded off the night with some of their own material as well as Miley Cyrus's 'Wrecking Ball' which was a nod to Mr Gerritsen's performance at House Music.

We thank Mr Geordie McCallum who has been teaching guitar and mentoring rock musicians at the College for some years. His championing of rock music, music technology and the K-Rock programme has led to the opportunities our students are getting in this area.

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