Dara Rocks

Broadcast: 02/09/2005

Reporter: Lexi Metherell

Daramalan College is the only local school to make it to the finals of the Schools Rock Eisteddfod. Lexi Metherell produced a preview.

ABBEY WATSON: A lot of people do sad issues and stuff like that, so we decided to do something a bit happy.

KIRRI ROBINSON: This year's king solomon's mines, it's basically about a cave, it's a mythical story, explorers go into a cave and they're looking for a load of treasure and diamonds and things and along the way they find a girl in distress who's been in the cave for a little while, got caught, and of course there's a happy ending it's a rock eisteddfod.

JOSH MEARS: We were just there to have a ball so we just went out there thinking this is going to be our last performance, let's give it everything we've got.

KIRRI: Coming from Canberra doing our little production going along happily and then going and watching some of the premier schools perform was just unbelievable.

ABBEY WATSON: ...And then when we found out we were in the finals we were just gobsmacked.

BRANDON GIRVAN: The most rewarding bit for me was basically being accepted for what i was doing in rock eisteddfod like being one of six guys in the rock eisteddfod process at a very football playing school, was just amazing that people were just yeah that's cool, that was fine, i was blown away at like people's attitudes towards it.

JOSH: Getting the nerve to stand up in front of all those people and do something that's usually considered a bit more towards the girlie side, you know what i mean, like but definitely once getting over that initial fright, it's so worth it and it's so worth getting out there and performing and afterwards it's just the most exhilarating feeling ever.

KIRRI: Most of the choreographers have spent the last seven or so months choreographing every week and going over and over again.

ABBEY: It's hard to get the girls' and the guys' enthusiasm up every sunday cause i know it's so repetitive, and everyone's just going come on let's get this over and done with.

KIRRI: Bit sick of spending every sunday with a group of 76 kids who don't want to be there anymore.

JOSH: More like tedious. Like every sunday you'd have a lot of work on because it the last year of school and you've got to bust every bone in your body to get everything in.

KIRRI: I think it's also going to be sad because we spent so much time doing it and sundays won't be there any more.

KIRRI: A lot of people who were really shy before are happy to come up and chat to you, and some of the ones who didn't think that rock eisteddfod was good enough for them they were just kind of in there for a bit of fun realised how much more it could be if they just put in a bit of effort.

JOSH: For me probably just a whole lot of self-confidence, and like self-realisation probably.

KIRRI: Some schools are out to win and you know they are but at the end of the day all you're there for is to get on stage and have eight minutes of fantastic fun and go off feeling really happy that you've done something.

BRANDON: I'm going to seriously be total rock eisteddfod deprivation, I'm going to go into relapses of just wanting to go up on stage and be with Kiri and just have total total amounts of fun, it's just mind blowing, you can't really describe it, it'll be, it'll just rip a part of me out (laughs).