Today I am the receptionist at Beach and Bay but on Saturday the 18^th of December my band False Acclaim played our first gig at the Brass Monkey. After 2 and a half long months of practice and planning the day turned out great. After a successful sound check the gig started at around 1:15 when most of the guest’s had arrived.

The set list started with many of our original songs both heavy and acoustic, around halfway we covered “Best of you” by the Foo Fighters and this is around when everyone started to get into it, from then on the set list had a mix of False Acclaim’s heavier originals and covers from bands such as Nirvana, Blink 182 and 30 Seconds to Mars.

The feedback from the gig was amazing and it seemed like almost everyone had a great time and would like to see the band play again in the near future. False Acclaim is now looking to record a demo as we have 12 original songs ready to go.

On behalf of the band I would like to thank the Brass Monkey for being the perfect venue for our showcase and for putting in the effort that allowed us to play there. Hopefully we can have another gig there in the future.

Hi, I’m Yvette and I have been doing work experience at Beach and Bay for the past week. I have been doing general office work, helping with market appraisal research and learning about online marketing. I was excited when I was told that I could tweet, use facebook and blog as part of my job, I could be perhaps, the only work experience girl who is allowed to do this! So here is my blog on summer festivals.

My current weekend job is as the musical entertainment (singing and playing guitar) at Flowercino in Caringbah on Friday nights. I will also be busking at Caringbah Public School Carnival on the 28^th of November 2009.

For anyone else who is interested in music there are a number of gigs and festivals coming up this summer. One of the biggest and most well-known of these is the Big Day Out. With the first Sydney show selling out in minutes the Big Day Out is sure to be huge. Headlining this year is one of the world’s biggest bands – Muse. Also on the line up are a variety of different artists and bands from a range of genres, some of these being Lily Allen, Powderfinger and Jet. You can check out the full line up at here. The third and final line up announcement is yet to be made. You can also follow the Big Day Out on twitter which also helps you keep track of other shows the Big Day Out artists will be having. The Big Day out will be held in Sydney on both the 22^nd and 23^rd of January 2010.

Another festival that will be held this summer is Soundwave. For lovers of alternative rock this festival is a must and it is yet to sell out. Headlining the 2010 festival are the newly reformed Faith No More. Co-headlining are my personal favorite, My Chemical Romance.  Both of which have announced sideshows that will sell out fast! Also joining the line up are Paramore, Escape the Fate, All Time Low, Janes Addiction, AFI and many more. This festival will be held at Eastern Creek on the 21^st of February. To see the full lineup and other interesting information about the festival visit here or follow Soundwave on twitter.

There are also over 18 festivals being held this summer including Good Vibrations with The Killers headlining and Homebake. Homebake is a festival which entirely focuses on Australian and New Zealand artists. The line up for this years Home bake features both Powder Finger and Jet.

I think everyone should make an effort to attend one of these great festivals this year. They are defiantly a worthwhile experience that you won’t regret!