The Rock Contest was created in 1984 by Controradio. A new ferment,
inspired by the "British punk", had already started to spread the idea that
anyone could just grab a guitar and play it. As a result dozens of young
bands had started to pop up in Florence playing in the so called "cellars".
At the time rehearsal rooms still didn´t exist therefore the only way for
bands to rehears was to play in garages, in their parents´ or friends´
country houses or in their cellars. Bands used to spend their nights and
afternoons closed in small rooms with loud sounds to cloud their minds. They
used to rehears for days and days but, when they were finally ready to go on
stage, they simply wouldn´t know where to perform. In fact there weren´t
many places where bands could play live, especially rock music. The idea
behind the Rock Contest was to give young bands a stage to play on, along
with the possibility to express themselves. After only a few editions it
managed to became a very important venue to promote bands and provide them
with opportunities. Some of the bands or solo artists that took part in it
got on successfully with their carriers growing from young beginners to
famous artists on a national scale. (Irene Grandi,Bandabardō Dirotta su
Cuba, Malfunkt etc).
Beetweeen the Eighties and the Nineties many bands from the Florentine area
(mainly but not only), started to look at the Rock Contest like a goal to
achieve. Bands were offered the chance to perform in front of a big public
from 600 to 2000 people), followed by the press with a wide coverage, and
were given the possibility to insert one of their songs in a compilation.
Having their name cited on the radio, interviews published on newspapers,
cds and with the experience they had gathered, bands were ready to jump
forward and start to believe that they could really make It if only they
tried hard enough.
The Rock Contest sponsors emergent bands from the national outline. Bands
can take part in this event absolutely for free. Awards are very beguiling:
a full coverage by the media (radios, TVs daily newspapers and music
magazines, cd compilations, concerts in Tuscany, Italy and abroad) aimed at
providing bands with exposure; and a professional support by means of music
tutorials set in recording studios and run by famous artists and music
professionals. The bands that reached the first three positions last year,
could attend a "full immersion" session in studio with the famous musician
and producer Paolo Benvegnų ex Scisma and Enriquez, frontman of Bandabardō.
Last year more than 200 bands sent their demos, 36 of which were chosen to
play at the most long-lived italian Contest in the history of Rock! Some of
them exploiting the popularity of the Rock Contest could take part in very
important music happenings (in 2002 the finalists bands of the Rock
Contest opened Ligabue´s concert at the Florence Stadium in front of 30.000
people, Tamales de Chipil in the summer 2003 opened Manu Chao´s concert in
Volterra)
The Rock Contest is able to achieve all this thanks to the accomplishment
and the financial support of Controradio together with the Counsellorship of
Education of the Council of Florence, in partnership with the Council of
Bagno a Ripoli, Campi Bisenzio, Sesto Fiorentino and Scandicci. |
|
