Learning To Walk Like The Hero's We Thought We Had To Be

The DIG THE GIG UC 2025 Grand Final last Wednesday night had everything - warmth, love, loudness, chaos and faith back in rock n roll.

Our Garden City is no longer in ruins, we have taken our smiles from out of our pockets - the power of live music has won us over again and it feels pretty bloody good.

No Broadcast lit up the stage - It has been a while since I have witnessed a twenty minute set such as that one - you really had to be, if you weren’t you missed a trick.

Monotones kicked off the proceedings - they were a man down and it showed - we thank them for fronting up and giving it 110 percent. 

Sandfly are ones to keep an ear out for - very cool three piece that will go the distance if they stick to their guns.

Burning Monk came in super hot - unique dudes that enjoy pushing and pulling the crowd as they execute their 'melodic metal’ in mind bending ways! A great piece of colourful for the DTG movement this year.

Rapids are an awesome band - they have it in spades, please stay in the game gents - you have a heap to offer and we need more!

DTG 2024 Winners Red Weekend hit the stage and showed the FANS why they were crowned the best band in 2024 - its only rock n' roll but it helps if you know how to play it! Superb set and congrats to the guys on getting through some tough times of late but finding a resolve in new members that have the swagger to take things to another level. On any given night when a band has something to prove there is no better place to be but in the crowd - that was pretty friggin special! 

Swamp Meet always over deliver on their promise - to enforce hard hitting grunge with a twist of classic rock! They do it every time and we thank them for it whole heartedly!

Detour have come a long way - it's been a thrill to watch these wonderful humans grow musically - their set was the first acoustic set in the history of the DTG movement and it was sensational. We got a real taste of how amazing Leila Paul’s vocals are and flanked flawlessly by Louis and Gus - it was a musical treat and one we wont forget for some time - thank you. 

RVA our new rockers on the block came and delivered - mentally prepared to win, physically motivated to seek & destroy, and the rest as they say is history - congrats on taking the spoils and being crowned DTG UC 2025 Champions! FANS from Ashburton made it to the show which in the end got them over the line - the decibel meter never lies!

The Perfect Gun once again tripped us all out - these guys are a magnetic musical force that will take you on a colourful journey that you never want to end. . 

Isolar as we have seen over the past three years played their cool hearts out - their singer and drummer pulled out of the show 24 hours before they hit the stage but they miraculously found replacements and pulled off the unthinkable - two things to take away from what happened - not giving up (there is no failure until you quit) and having the courage and mental capacity to want to play the set as if nothing had changed. Superb effort!

So many Hero’s in that room last Wednesday - Mike, Gretchen, Cal and their Hospitality Hero crew - we salut you! The FANS that have showed up on those shitty cold winter nights and kept the fires burning - we salut you! Our awesome sponsors that put some gas in the DTG Tank to keep it going - we salut you! Liam D our host with most - we salut you! Venn for capturing the magic - you have over-delivered big time!

A big thanks to John Ross who has been filming each heat - we have some exciting news to share over the coming months! 

A huge thanks to our Mayor Phil and his lovely wife Chrissy for helping us celebrate what was and will continue to be an important and crucial project & movement for our creative inspiring youth's here in the Garden City. 

See all you good souls in 2026 for some more rock n' roll madness!