Dept of Rock 2025 Battle of the Bands - Heat 3

Name: Dept of Rock 2025 Battle of the Bands - Heat 3
Start: 2025-10-21T09:00:00+11:00
Location: Smith's Alternative

Schedule

Tue, 21 Oct, 2025 at 09:00 am

UTC+11:00

Location

Smith's Alternative | Canberra, CT

Who will be crowned winner of Dept of Rock 2025? Who will have the most fun along the way?! These big questions and many more will be answered when Dept of Rock returns to Smith’s Alternative for the 2025 Public Service Battle of the Bands Competition.
Come cheer on cool public servant rockstars as they ditch their laptops and lanyards for guitars, drumsticks and mics in the ultimate battle for rock supremacy. This year we’ll also be entertained by some very special guest bands and Madam Secretary musings, games and giveaways.
Grab a ticket and join in the fun of this quintessentially Canberra live music event!
Heat 3 Rockstars
DIVE
In true public service style, DIVE is an acronym for the Departments of Industry, Veterans’ (Affairs) and the Environment. These are the departmental homes of DIVE members Simone, Mitch and Georgia. None of them ever met through work - they got to know each other at Smith’s Alternative, going to gigs and participating in various music sessions. The Department of Rock is another opportunity for them to have a go and try something different. Only Mitch has been in a band before.
John Gorton Building Preservation Society
The John Gorton Building Preservation Society is a ragtag group of public servants from DCCEEW who are here to rock and conserve and celebrate the John Gorton Building!
Blindsided
BLINDSIDED are NOT your average covers band, they play a saucy mix of retro rock and pop punk hits with a twist!
https://www.facebook.com/BlindSidedCanberra
Absent Acetone
Absent Ace Tone will regale you with tales of atmospheric phenomena, public service misadventures and lost love. Proggy punk overtones with a splash of funk on the fourth palette. Three songwriters, three singers, one mission - To ROCK! We luvs the Guvmint - they payz the bilz! https://www.facebook.com/p/Absent-Ace-Tone-61552199887220/
IT Grrrls
Originally founded for the inaugural 2023 Dept of Rock Battle of the Bands, the IT Grrrls stormed the competition on their mission to prove that women who work in IT are total rock stars! At the end of that comp, the Grrrls went back to their day jobs as techies, service delivery managers, programmers and media producers, satisfied that they’d delivered on their brief.
But the world of tech doesn’t stand still, and neither do the IT Grrrls. This year, expect scathing commentary on the dangers of social media, a lot of nagging about looking after your devices properly, and some deep introspection on the role of AI in society, all delivered through the medium of pop songs that you know and love. It’s tech support like you’ve never experienced it before.
Heat 3 Guest Band: The DUDS
The DUDS came together when someone thought: ‘If I hold a competition for APS musicians, what would a band of compete DUDS look like’. And so, the DUDS were born! Playing their brand of acoustic punk that’s full of attitude but not hard on the ears, the DUDS like tell it like it is – and how it was in the good ol days of the public service. Runners up in 2023 and winners of Dept of Rock in 2024, the DUDS are back this year as our special guests in heat 3. Don’t miss the chance to be dudded once again by Canberra’s funniest punk trio.