VOTE SOUTHERN AMP 08 PARTY IN 3 WEEKS TIME!!

20th October 2008
VOTE LIVE MUSIC ON 9th NOVEMBER, VOTE SOUTHERN AMP 08 PARTY!
TESTAMENT CAN’T BE THERE BUT WETA AND ‘THAT GUY’ CAN!

With less than 3 weeks to go until New Zealand live music fans vote with their feet, arms and voices for the party they want to be at, the Southern Amp 08 Party confirms that its policies are quite simple but unlike any other party in the voting arena this year the SOUTHERN AMP PARTY POLICIES ARE GUARANTEED! Southern Amp promises:

1. More international live acts than any other event in the South Island since the “Sweet” old days of the 80’s.

2. 12 hours of stonking non-stop music on four stages featuring over 40 live acts with each stage undercover.

3. The BEST and BIGGEST election after-party in the land, even if you don’t vote or don't care.

4. A sound environmental policy at this year’s event and with everyone’s help we’ll minimise landfill junk, recycle old mobile phones, reduce general plastic usage with beer being served in cans and supply clean free water to re-fill your water bottles + there will be clearly designated waste bins for specific recyclable waste material. Southern Amp might be its own party, but it can lean a bit green too!

Here’s the latest Southern Amp Party news bulletin with a few cabinet re-shuffles…

TICKET UPDATE
With just three weeks to go there are less than 2500 General Admission tickets and around 300 Premium seated tickets left for Southern Amp 08. With a strictly limited capacity, when these tickets are gone there aren’t any more! Don’t spoil your paper, vote Live Music, vote with your feet and be part of the Southern Amp 08 Party celebrations on Sunday 9th November at Westpac Arena Festival Park in Christchurch. It’s your future, get involved in Southern Amp and let's fill up the majority of the seats in the house!

TESTAMENT CANCELLATION
For all metal-heads out there, serious apologies! Nobody likes cancellations but due to scheduling conflicts in other parts of the world, the San Francisco metal masters have unfortunately had to cancel their Southern Amp 08 performance. Both the band and Southern Amp are seriously disappointed that their first ever New Zealand concert will take a little longer to happen now, but Testament promise their NZ fans that they WILL tear it up here sometime in 2009. Fans requiring refunds should return their tickets to point of purchase.

WETA RETURN TO FILL THE VOID
Filling the gap left by Testament will be Wellington rock band WETA. Formed in 1995 the band built a huge following as the fiercest live act in the country securing support slots with Shihad, Regurgitator, Everclear, The Foo Fighters & Soundgarden. After moving to Melbourne and scoring platinum sales of their debut album “Geographica”, various dysfunctional fist fights and all sorts of other rock & roll ‘issues’, caused the band to split up in 2001. Now reconvened and raring to go, the band set out on their first NZ dates in 7 years including a main stage appearance at Southern Amp 08! www.myspace.com/wetarock

‘THAT GUY’ – LEIGH HART TALKING UP THE AMP
Every great live stage needs and totally wild and crazy MC and Leigh Hart is That Guy at Southern Amp! Born in Greymouth, raised in the Andes of Peru, crafted at boarding school in Christchurch and a seasoned band member himself, Leigh made his TV debut on TV2’s Sports Café as roaming reporter ‘That Guy’. After covering 2 Olympic Games and a Rugby World Cup he moved onto produce his own Comedy show “Moon TV” and is now the face of Heller’s TV ads as well as playing in the Sports Café studio band. He’s back from travelling the world again to film a new series of Moon TV but jets into Christchurch for Southern Amp 08.

DIRT – aka The Rhymestone Cowboy RIDES INTO SOUTHERN AMP
From back country to backstage in true Southern style, Ashburton Bachelor of the Year and fifth generation high country shepherd Daniel Urquhart is also a rapper called ‘DIRT’ – no ordinary rapper though, kind of like a cross between The Man From Snowy River and Eminem! Beamed into countless thousands of homes through TVNZ’s 20/20 program recently, Daniel practices his unique urban sound, atop his trusty steed to a flock of between 1 and 1000 ‘sheep’ but he's about to take his talents to the mass public for the very first time on the Christchurch Music Stage as Southern Amp gives Dirt his first major break. "My homies are my dogs"- Dirt must be the only rapper in the world that can actually mean that literally! Something not to be missed… Google “Rhymestone Cowboy 20/20” and see for yourself.

AUDIO EMPIRE OPEN UP THE MAIN STAGE
After a nationwide band search via The Rock’s Advanced Warning Show and MySpace KiwiHub, Audio Empire beat out over 140 other bands to score the coveted opening slot on the Main Stage at Southern Amp 08 to open for the likes of Seether, The Dandy Warhols, The Living End and loads of other rock heavyweights – and they deserve to be there!. Having just released their self-titled debut album of unadulterated rock covering a spectrum of emotions and styles, the Auckland-based band can use Southern Amp to expand on their success to date in the NZ rock scene.

THE KLAP ROUND-UP A SLOT ON THE CHCH MUSIC STAGE
Getting back to the land, urban cowboys, The Klap recently took home the much-lauded ‘Midget Guitar Of Glory’ as the Champions for 2008 RDU Round Up competition at the Dux de Lux with their intense live performance of alt-country polka genre-bending drinking music, the perfect mix! Trumpets, one string slide guitars, accordions, banjoes and earthy vocals drew a huge crowd response and ultimately the judges votes. Following in the footsteps of previous winners like Tiger Tones, Bang! Bang! Eche! and The Undercurrents, their prize includes a slot on the CHART/RDU Christchurch Music Stage at Southern Amp which ALWAYS leads to good things…

DJ INSOMNIAC
Willy Privett who has been mixing for 10 years took out the Decknology 2008 DJ title recently. With Willy's mixing work on display via live TV feed and fat beats he will bring the house down when he opens the Ministry of Sound Stage at Southern Amp 08.

SOUTHERN AMP 08 – THE ABSOLUTE FULL AND LINE-UP!!!
SEETHER (US), THE LIVING END (AUS), THE DANDY WARHOLS (US), TIKI, THE CHARLATANS (UK), GYROSCOPE (AUS), THE POTBELLEEZ (AUS), WETA, THE JORDAN LUCK BAND, CONCORD DAWN, STATE OF MIND, AUTOZAMM, GOODWILL (AUS), GOODNIGHT NURSE, DIMMER, FUR PATROL, LITTLE BUSHMAN, DIE! DIE! DIE!, THE VALVES, PITCH BLACK, CLAP CLAP RIOT, TIGER TONES, THE ASTON SHUFFLE (AUS), TAINTED, MIDNIGHT  YOUTH, CAIRO KNIFE FIGHT, OAKLEY ‘OG’ GRENELL, THE EXILES, GENERAL LEE, MINISNAP, LINDON PUFFIN, HERA, THE L.E.D.s, AUDIO EMPIRE, THE KLAP, ED MUZIK, THE EASTERN, THE DECEIVERS, DIRT, DJ INSOMNIAC, ANNEKA THWAITES and THAT GUY!  

Southern Amp 08 is R15 restricted. We care for our environment. Be Green, Be Clean, Be Safe, Vote Amp! See you there in THREE WEEKS TIME!!

THE SOUTHERN AMP 08 PARTY

www.southernamp.co.nz
www.christchurchmusic.org.nz/events/southern-amp-2008