Skate and karaoke combine
Rink Revolution Bundaberg’s Nick Phillips and Lucy Phillips with Wade Smith from Smithies Karaoke and DJ Hire are pleased to collaborate on a Karaoke Skate event. Picture by: INGRID WILLIAMSON.
By Angela Norval
Just when local skating enthusiasts thought that the Rink Revolution events couldn’t get any better, they have added karaoke.
In a Bundaberg first, Rink Revolution Bundaberg’s Nick Phillips and Lucy Phillips have collaborated with Smithies Karaoke and DJ Hire to bring Karaoke Skate to the Bundaberg Recreational Precinct Main Pavilion.
Asked what inspired them to offer skating and karaoke together in the one event, Nick said when they were presented with the opportunity to collaborate with Wade Smith from Smithies Karaoke and DJ Hire it just made sense.
“It just seems like it would be something unique and just great fun and everyone loves a good karaoke sing along and we all love a skate right, with the two together almost guaranteeing a good night.” he said.
“Wade is such a legend, he just jumped straight in when we asked him if he wanted to collaborate and when we realised, we didn’t have the funds to pay him, he said that wasn’t a problem, he was in it to have fun.
“It’s rare that you get to work with people who care more about the community, making sure people have a good time and doing a good job than they do making money.
“He has helped our business out in many ways since we started to work together and it turns out if Smithie can help you, he will and we have a lot of respect for that.”
Neil said while personally he wasn’t sure of his own favourite song to skate to, one song that was synonymous with Rink Revolutions events for was Florence and the Machine’s You’ve Got The Love.
“The original version was around when I was young so I’ve always liked it, but at our first event I couldn’t get the speakers working properly so I had to test by playing a song.
“Florence was the first song on our playlist so that got played over and over and it just burned it into my brain and I have kept it as the first song ever since.
“Ideally with Rink Revolution events, we just want people to skate and have a good time.
“The formula is pretty straight forward but there seems to be a lot of opportunity in Bundy with other small businesses.
“Thanks to Bundaberg Today and other people sharing the love of skate, we’ve had a lot of interest from other people wanting to work with us.
“We attract a range of ages and constantly hear, ‘I used to skate when I was young’.
“Skating was biggest in the ’80s which means we have a lot of people our age (40-50) who come along and they generally skated when they were young then life got in the way.
“Then life opens up again as you get older and we get to relive our youth.
“Most of that demographic rock up with their own skates too – some 20 years old.
“Having said that, the generosity of Impala has meant we have skates to hire now, which means we can cater to beginners who don’t have skates and that demographic tends to be children.”
By having hire skates courtesy of Impala, Rink Revolution have helped those who want to try before they buy and are new to skating and have 31 pairs of skates with fantastic patterns and colours.
“We have also recently secured a government grant of $1000 to purchase new disco lights which is amazing, but our next grant will go towards the purchasing of more skates to hire.
“We want to be able to encourage as many people as we can to come and give it a try.
“Our whole family love skating, it really is our passion so we actually enjoy doing all of it.
“We really look forward to the events, coming up with new ideas and ways to make it unique and exciting. We just wish we had more time.”
It really is all about singing, skating and having a laugh through this event.
“We always say you can’t skate in a bad mood, there’s something about rolling on wheels that just makes you feel happy, and well combine that with some off key singing and you get a chance to zone out of real life for a bit and just enjoy some good fun in the moment.
“If we can achieve that, then we’re winning.”
This event is held from 5pm to 8pm on Saturday 11 May and bookings are essential through the Rink Revolution Bundaberg Facebook page.
Smithies is rocking community events for all abilities
Smithies Karaoke and DJ Hire owner/founder Wade Smith welcomes the opportunity to help put together different fun events for the community. (Supplied:Facebook)
By Angela Norval
Whether you prefer a funky hit from the 90s or a pure ballad from the 80s, the All-Ability Karaoke is set to have them all.
Smithies Karaoke and DJ Hire and Gin Gin Neighbourhood Centre are excited to present this event on Friday 26 September from 3pm to 5pm at 4 Dea Street Gin Gin with free entry.
Smithies Karaoke and DJ Hire owner/founder Wade Smith said the idea for the event had come about through his desire to provide something great to do for local youth and provide some support for the venues with the karaoke session.
“This will be a fun and exciting event for the community because karaoke is great and allows guests to sing their heart out to their favourite songs,” he said.
“It is wonderful to be able to make this an all-abilities event as we are just regular people and we don’t define our boundaries or our disabilities.
“Karaoke is a fantastic event for bringing people together and creating a fun, positive atmosphere because it combines music, social interaction, and shared experiences.”
Wade said he would like to thank, Zak from Growth Gyms Avoca for covering the cost of the karaoke software he uses, Melissa from Gin Gin Neighbourhood Centre for helping him get this off the ground and Bundaberg Regional Council for providing the venues completely free of charge.
“We are currently in the process of launching a Bundaberg session in collaboration with BRC too, check out our sessions on our Fb page or on our website – smithieskaraokeanddjhire.com/events.
“If you want these sessions to be frequent then we need your support.”