Wikipedia
AmpFest - Clash of the Bands is an initiative of a West Australian Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and has been held in May each year since 2003 by five Councils, in the western suburbs of Perth, comprising City of Nedlands, Town of Claremont, Town of Mosman Park, City of Subiaco and Town of Vincent. The Town of Cambridge was one of the original organising Councils but withdrew and was replaced by the City of Nedlands. The project is designed to provide young Perth bands with an opportunity to further their skills in the music industry and provide them with a platform to play their music in a public arena, as well as provide other young people with the opportunity to attend free, local, live, all-ages entertainment.
The inaugural AmpFest was held in 2003 with 57 bands applying to take part and over 700 people attending the four heats that year. Since 2003, the format for each AmpFest has remained the same with the participating councils hosting the three heats and the final. Four bands play at each heat, with the winner going through to the final. A fourth wild card band is selected by the judges to participate in the final.
Since 2005 all twelve finalists get to record a track of their choice on the Best and Pressed CD which is distributed to music industry representatives throughout Western Australia. In 2007 the winner of the competition also received automatic entry into the semi-final of the Next Big Thing competition.