Friday 12th was the final of the Smokefree Rockquest for 2025. ASB Waterfront Theatre was the venue and it was a fun night with huge dollops of talent, signalling an exciting future for NZ music. 8 young bands spanning genres and New Zealand gave the judges a hard choice, in the end the winner was Equilibrium – an instrumental band from Burnside High.

Bands in order were

• Go Getter
• IWI
• Deaf Racoon
• Equilibrium
• Sahara
• Rumpus Machine
• Hoon
• Courtney’s Place
• Seek Help!

Special guest Wet Denim rounded out the night and played while the judges deliberated

Chris Zwaagdyk went along to capture the evening.