The idea of two bands competing has existed for decades, but leave it to Red Bull to give the old idea a caffeinated kick. At Red Bull Soundclash, two bands of different musical styles compete to win over the crowd.

After occurrences worldwide, including in New Zealand, Soundclash arrives at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on 11 December. At the Sydney Soundclash, hosted by Darren McMullen and Yumi Stynes, hip-hop crew TZU will compete with modern blues rockers The Vasco Era.

The event has four rounds. Prior to the competition, each band plays three songs to warm up the crowd. In Round One, the Cover creative round, DJ Leeroy Brown of Katalyst plays a well-known song and each band has to play their version of it. The Takeover round, round two, has each band play a famous song of theirs. Then, the other band must perform their version of the other’s song.

For round three, the DJ picks a genre for each heat. One band starts out playing a song in that genre, with the other group formulating a response. This goes back and forth until the bands melt the song with one their own songs. The final round has a special guest join each group to play one last song. At the end, audience applause determines the winner.

Come see competitive music get a taurine boost at Red Bull Soundstage, Sydney. 11 December – TZU versus The Vasco Era – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney (AA)