www.coffscoastindependent.com.au COFFS COAST INDEPENDENT - Thursday, November 5, 2009 21

guide FESTIVAL COUNTDOWNe www.coffscoastindependent.com.au

NINE Sons of Dan has done it again,taking out the final of the Open ArmsBattle of the Bands on Saturday

night to win a coveted spot on the festivalbill at the Coffs Harbour Showground onNovember 28.

“The standard of competition in thisyear’s battle was extremely high and wewould like to sincerely thank all bands whoentered this competition,’ said organiserSharni Seccombe, of Offbeat Operations.

“Nine Sons of Dan will perform at theOpen Arms Festival on the main stage andreceived $1000.

“This band has done the hard yards andwere the best band on the night.”

Nine Sons of Dan lead guitarist DanielCox said: “It was a great night, the otherbands were all very, very good and wedidn’t expect to win.

“We are very excited to play at the OpenArms Festival, this will be the biggest showwe have played so far and we’re all lookingforward to it so much.”

Other winners on the night included Nel-

son Foster from Swimming With Sharks, whowalked away with the best drummer award,collecting a cool $1100 Zildjian Zht symbolpack for his trouble.

Most promising guitarist Minnie Markswalked away with a $1600 Fender Strato-caster guitar, and best young artist TheProposition took home a Yamaha AudioGram 6 Home Recording Set Up.

All finalists also received prize packs fullof goodies including drum sticks, guitarstrings, T-shirts, posters and so much more.

The judges choice, chosen to play at theOfficial Open Arms Festival After Party at theHoey Moey, is Medium, while joint runners-up Geoff Turnbull and Minnie Marks willperform at the Open Arms Festival on theEnchanted Woods Stage.

“A massive thanks to Coffs Harbour it-self and all you rockers out there who cameto support this event of truly live, originalmusic, let’s keep supporting live music andconcrete its future for Coffs Harbour,” Sharnisaid.

“See you all at the 2009 Open Arms Fes-tival – don’t sit on the fence, get your ticketsand support this outdoor live music festi-val.”

ROCK MY WORLD… Nine Sons of Dan (left) on stage during its winningperformance on at the Hoey Moey on Saturday night. LET’S GET LOUD … Swimming With Sharks (above) doing what they dobest – raising the roof of the Hoey in front of an appreciative crowd.

Pictures: VANESSA ALMOND

By VANESSA ALMOND

Nine Sons ofDan to rockOpen Arms