Hey Ho, Let’s Go!
Construction Rocked on 10 August.
It was a battle of the eight bands at Construction Rocks at a sold out Oxford Arts Factory on 10 August. It was a jam packed night with songs from Metallica to Coldplay, Fleetwood Mac to The Ramones. Together, our moshing and headbanging on the night helped raise near $35,000 in funds for homeless youth (through sponsorship, ticket sales and fundraising).
This year was bigger and better with three industry (both music and property & construction) judges, Brandan Villatora, Rachel Kelly, and Rob Hezkial AND three prizes – top fundraising band microphone, crowd favourite microphone and the top prize of all – a day in a recording studio – for the winning band donated by Tony Bonney from Grow on Purpose. All down to the fantastic 2023 Construction Rocks Committee: Mike Fleet from WSP, Victoria Ferguson from Rider Levett Bucknall, Meisha Stevens from Stantec, Ella Kerr from WSP, Paul Angus from Warren Smith Consulting Engineers and Matt Sartori from Shear Property Group.
“Construction Rocks, has become what we envisaged it to be 8 years ago, an Industry wide event that celebrates the talented people within the Property and Construction Industry, its an event like no other, a safe environment for our peers to get out of their comfort zones and try something completely different, of course, the icing on the cake is that all the funds raised go to the Property Industry Foundation, a cause close to mine and many people’s hearts, I’m proud to have been involved in Construction Rocks from the beginning and each year it gets bigger and better”
Victoria Ferguson, Business Development & Client Relationship Manager, Rider Levett Bucknall and Chair Construction Rocks Committee.
Thank you to the committee for organising a rocking night for the ages and thank you to our event sponsors, Acor Consultants and Cranfield Group.
The Winning Band – Xavier Knights
Winners on the night are Xavier Knights! They donned their sunglasses and kicked off with The Ramones and got the crowd rocking. It only got louder from there with the crowd singing along to every song. Five stars all round for Xavier Knights.
The set:
- Blitzreig Bop by The Ramones
- Back in the USSR by The Beatles
- The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
- Yellow by Coldplay
- Mr Brightside by The Killers.
Crowd Favourite – Yeah Nah Yeah
The 2022 Construction Rocks runners up were the crowd favourites on the night. What a fantastic set from this eclectic collective of scientists and engineers. Hailing from all corners of the globe, their love of rocking out brought them together to wind back the clock and bring you some of the best selections from their parent’s record collection.
The set:
- Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts
- Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar
- I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness
- Rolling In The Deep by Adele
- Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet.
Top Fundraisers – Off the CHarts
The Charter Hall band made their Construction Rocks debut to a packed and rowdy crowd with a blistering rendition of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac. On top of the fantastic debut set, Off the CHarts really put their money where their mouth is crushing their fundraising by raising over $8,000.
The set:
- The Chain by Fleetwood Mac
- Valerie by Amy Winehouse
- Wonderwall by Oasis
- Creep by Radiohead
- Candy by Iggy Pop.
This is the second year and a row that Earthquake, Wind & Fire have stepped up to the mic. Five structural engineers, one business support person and a lawyer have been hailed by Mojo as “the greatest live act in the world, if not the greatest at 345 George Street, Sydney” and by Rolling Stone as “10,000 times better than the original band, even if they don’t have the technical faculty to play any of their songs”.
The set:
- Proud Mary by Tina Turner
- I’ve Never Loved a Man (the Way That I Love You) by Aretha Franklin
- Tennessee Whiskey by David Allan Coe
- Hey Ya by Outkast
- A medley of Livin’ On A Prayer by Bon Jovi, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme by Abba and Message In A Bottle by The Police.
This was a debut for The Six PMs, a bunch of TSA professionals from different backgrounds and various generations with a passion for music in common. They rocked the night and were so excited to represent TSA for the first time at Construction Rocks and stoked to be helping a great cause.
The set:
- Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon
- I’m Only Happy When It Rains by Garbage
- Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots
- Decode by Paramore
- All The Small Things by Blink 182.
Construction Rocks regulars, Dogsbody brought all the heart and passion to the night. They took inspiration from the power ballad legends of the 70’s and 80’s, and made all our dreams come true through their soaring choruses, epic solos and musical transcendence.
The set:
- Surrender by Cheap Trick
- Two Strong Hearts by John Farnham
- Working for the Weekend by Loverboy
- We Built This City by Starship.
The heaviest rockers of the night, Sounds Like a Plan are commercial fitout professionals with a huge passion for rocking out with their mates. And they brought it! The guitar riffs were insane.
The set:
- Wild Flower by The Cult
- The Chase Is Better Than The Catch by Motorhead
- Don’t Walk Away by Danger Danger
- Man In a Box by Alice In Chains
- Everlong by Foo Fighters.
Finishing off the night was our final debutants, Mottown, from Mott MacDonald. This eclectic band brought a wide variety of songs and gave us a finale for the ages. We look forward to welcoming them back next year,
The set:
- Bohemian Like You by The Dandy Warhols
- All The Small Things by Blink 182
- Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus
- Waterloo by Abba
- Walk This Way by Run DMC
