Photos: Northland's high school bands star at Smokefreerockquest

The Psychedelic Goldfish, from WBHS/WGHS, with Zadie Hurrell (guitar), Reef Leigh (drums) and Patrick Biss (bass,vocals), perform at the Smokefreerockquest Northland Regional Final at Forum North.

Northland's high school bands have had their day in the limelight competing in the annual Smokefreerockquest.

Last week 13 bands took to the stage for the Smokefreerockquest Northland Regional Final at Forum North, Whangārei.

At the end of the night Jeeks from Bream Bay College took out first place and Stranger Paradise from Kerikeri High School and Springbank School were second.

The top two bands now join the top solo duos in the region, with the opportunity to submit a video of their original material for selection as one of the top 10 national finalists to play off at the Bruce Mason Centre in Auckland on September 14.

The full list of awards for Northland: Band 1: Jeeks: Bream Bay College; Band 2: Stranger Paradise: Kerikeri High School, Springbank School; Band 3: The Steves: Kerikeri High School; Solo-Duo 1: North American Smile: Whangārei Girls' High School, Huanui College; Solo-Duo 2: Tiare and Waiwai's: Taipa Area School; Smokefree Tangata Beats (solo-duo): Ni Myself and I: Te Kura Taumata o Panguru; Smokefree Tangata Beats (band): Radiance: Bay of Islands College; ZM People's Choice: Pahi State of Mind: Otamatea High School; Smokefree Best Vocals: Elevated: Rodney College, Mahurangi College; Musicianship: Laura Corbet of Zelama: Bream Bay College; Best Song: Jeeks: Bream Bay College; APRA Lyric Writers' Award: Bay Dreams: Bay of Islands College.

The Northern Advocate likes to acknowledge the efforts of our budding musicians in their quest for stardom, but we also like to encourage other talented youngsters from the region.

So we got Whangarei Girls' High School student Sophie Overeem to take some photos for the bands on the night to publish in the paper. Well done to all the bands, solo acts and duos and Sophie for these images.

Zelama, from Bream Bay College.

Wham Bam Thankyou Ma'am, with Gabby Burne (vocals, bass), Iris Metcalfe (keyboard), Lily Hodgson-Bell (guitar), Lexi Laybourn (violin), Dylan Evans (drums), from WGHS.

The Jeeks, from Bream Bay College, Elijah Backhouse (guitar/vocals), Eksoni Fakauka (drums), Kara Petera (keyboard) and Jimmy White (bass), took out first place at Smokefreerockquest Northland final.

Second place: Stranger Paradise, Felix Danilo (guitar), Hector Danilo (drums), Sarah Doherty (sax), Khalila Streves (singer), Ishmael Streves (bass), from Kerikeri High School/Springbank School.

All the band leaders lined up ready for the awards.

Third place went to The Steves, from Kerikeri High School - Boston Harris (drums), Cooper Harris (guitar), Declan Matthews (guitar), Lukas Bayer (vocals), Ciara Andrews (vocals), Finn French (bass)

The guest band on the night was Dead Favours.