We started with 24 bands playing in 4 heats in October...then 12 bands slaying in 2 semi finals in November...and now it's the final countdown with 4 bands battling in the Grand Final on 8 December.

Who will go all the way and be crowned winner of Dept of Rock 2024? Grab a ticket and find out!
Dept of Rock Battle of the Bands is a feel-good and friendly band competition at Canberra’s favourite live music venue Smith’s Alternative. Our aim is to showcase and encourage amateur musos working in government, while smashing some myths about boring public servants and raising some money for local charities. Sure it’s a competition but it’s not really about winning or losing – Dept of Rock is about having a go, getting creative, connecting with others and having loads of fun with music.

The Shadies
The Shadies are an inclusive, fun loving ukulele band that play at lunchtime in the shade of the trees outside their offices in Barton. They have survived many machinery of government changes to keep coming together in the spirit of fun, friendship and a great love of music. The Shadies play anything and everything with their own special interpretation and welcome musicians and wanna-be musicians to come sing and strum. These rockstars are from DCCEEW.

Capybara Spa
Capybara Spa is one of the premier rodent-derived bands in the ACT. Performing guitar driven, mostly original material, their music has been described as: ‘Maybe post punk pop’, ‘Would have done well in the 70s’, ‘Would listen to it if another band played it'. Cabybara Spa love to entertain and get crowds up and moving. These rodenty rockstars hark from DCCEEW, Dept of Parlimentary Services and DFAT.

The DUDs
Acoustic punk that’s full of attitude, but not hard on the ears, the DUDS like to tell it like it is. Since coming second in 2023 Dept of Rock, the boys are back to DUD us again. They have once more boarded the train of no decorum to tell stories of the APS from last century to the present via searing musical satire. When they aren't on stage at Dept of Rock, these rockstars work at Dept of Defence and Services Australia.

FOI Fighters
A ‘tiger team' formed especially for Dept of Rock, the FOI Fighters are out to storm the grand final with their ab fab rock and roll satire. With an agile project management mindset, they have envisioned, speculated, explored and adapted - and now they’re ready to close. These cheeky rockstars hark from Dept of Finance, Office of the Arts, Australian Electoral Commission and NSW Dept of Health.