Big names battle for music therapy charity

He’s used to the big stage but this weekend Stuart Grieve QC will be ditching his legal robes and taking up his guitar instead as part of the Raukatori Battle of the Bands fundraiser gig.

Going head to head with the legal eagle and his band TMG will be the former Split Enz rockers Mike and Geoff Chunn and their band the Johnny Do Goods.

The Battle, which will see four other bands also suit up to join the fray, will set the walls rattling in Parnell’s Jubilee Hall on Saturday at 7.30pm.

The musical face-off raises much needed funds for The Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre in Auckland. The centre provides music therapy sessions to more than 200 children and young adults every month either at the Centre in Grey Lynn or via one of their fifteen Outreach locations in the greater Auckland area.  Music therapy builds bridges of communication through music by helping individuals to engage with their world, develop new skills and by reducing their sense of isolation.

But it’s a costly process as the Centre receives no government funding. Each year the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre needs to raise around $400,000 to continue to provide its vital and highly demanded services.

The last Battle of the Bands event was held in September 2009 and three of the bands who performed then, return for another shot at musical glory.

TMG, The Favourites (formally known as The Pleasure Boys) and The Johnny Goods are back and they are joined by The Verandahs, Strange Brew and Bikini Line.

For just $50 music lovers get to contribute to a great cause and hear some of the nation’s lesser-known musicians strum their stuff in front of a celebrated musical adjudicator. The winning band gets recording time donated by York Street Recording Studio to lay down its rock and roll genius for all to hear.

Each band plays three songs in the Raukatauri Battle of the Bands with the winning group playing the finale. There’s also a cash bar and snacks available for purchase throughout the night.

Tickets are priced at just $50 and can be purchased before the night from www.rmtc.org.nz or from the Centre itself - Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre at 15 Surrey Crescent, Grey Lynn