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For those about to rock - and serve the public - we salute you!
Dept of Rock returns to Smith's Alternative for another fun and thrilling Battle of the Bands competition for Canberra's public servants.
Who will take home the gold and get inducted into the Dept of Rock Hall of Fame? More importantly who will have the best time rocking out?
Come cheer on our awesome public servant rockstars and help us raise some money for small local charities!
Heat 2 Bands
Need to Know
Formed in true Public Service “let’s just make this work” fashion, this 5 piece Pop Rock band has grown from the seeds of a dedicated group of guys/gals who just want to give the audience what they want… rhythm and grooves. A recent amalgamation of ANU Rock School alumni, traditional Balkan musicians and Rock/Metal heavy hitters, Need to Know have the Pop Rock genre firmly in site to get people moving. Consisting of young and old, boy and girl, Need to Know has a secret sauce that only those who have the clearance and the privilege, can truly understand.
Quartic Sol
Quartic Sol is a Canberra band featuring Cedric (guitar), Jacinta (Vocals), Sam (Drums) and Thomas (Bass) that started at the end of 2024. Public servants by day, rockstars by night, Quartic Sol is all about creating new and exciting concepts in music through blend of genres, languages, cultures and references to literature. So cool!
Med Zep & The Invisible Hand
By day, they keep the nation healthy, the machines humming, and the budget balanced. By night, they’re Med Zeppelin and the Invisible Hand — proof that even public servants can rock harder than a Senate Estimates hearing.
On guitar, a doctor who’s as handy with riffs as with prescriptions. On bass, a biomedical engineer who knows the cure for any problem is a fat groove. On drums, a medical physics radiation engineer (because if you can handle particle beams, you can definitely handle a kick drum). And front-and-centre with the spreadsheets, an economist from federal treasury whose “invisible hand” doesn’t just guide markets, it guides the band through the high notes.
Formed somewhere between a meeting agenda and a coffee break, the band thrives on blending sharp minds with sharp riffs. Their style? Equal parts classic rock, nerdy precision, and APS-flavoured chaos. Brace yourself for calibrated beats, surgically precise solos, and basslines that could pass a peer review. They might not fix the economy or reinvent healthcare on stage — but they will make you dance like a deregulated market.
Area 4:51
Area 4:51 formed for the 2025 Department of Rock Battle of the Bands (winning the inaugural Secretary’s prize for Best Band Name). The band has since gone from strength to strength, growing our on-stage presence to nine people. Area 4:51 played the 2026 Department of Rock Allstar Gig, have played in-house gigs for our EDU colleagues, and a double header with IT GRRRLS at the Canberra Bowlo. We are always adding new songs to our repertoire of public service satire, which has been described as Weird Al Yankovic meets Utopia.
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Event venue
Smith's Alternative, 76 Alinga Street,Canberra,ACT,Australia
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.