In an era of television pop idols and live battle of the bands contests, it's refreshing to see there are music events based on the idea of old-fashioned fun. Now in its fifth year, the Soundbase Festival Acoustic Band Competition seeks nothing more than to showcase local talent in an entertaining environment.
Frank Lee King-ting, chief executive of organiser Tom Lee Music, has a simple agenda. 'The idea is for people to have some fun together,' he says. 'Our motivation is just to provide a situation for bands to be able to perform live.
'For the bands, it's an incentive to practise - something to work towards, and that's important. It's also a chance to improve - to see themselves on stage and get instant feedback from the audience.
'In the past, band competitions were rock oriented. We wanted to provide an alternative for musicians who played different genres and different styles.
'It's important to us that the event has a friendly and informal atmosphere,' Lee says. 'Some bands that traditionally play rock use the competition as a format to rearrange and experiment with their sound. They'll try it unplugged, which often allows them to explore their music with greater flexibility and variety.
'It's also a natural competition, being an acoustic show. What you see is what you get. In the long run it would be great if this had some effect on the recording industry. It's nice to see things go back to basics where one genuinely heard the real thing.'
Launched in 2000, the festival typically attracts about 60 to 70 entries a year. 'We hit a peak of 100 bands a few years back, although the numbers seem to have stabilised. The quality of contestants has steadily improved each year though, and we often see the same people coming back, getting better each time.