好色先生TV

The venue
The Vaults, Waterloo

The winners:

Best performance
The Macenaries (Mace)

Best new band
The Bullets (BskyB Development and Construction Team)

Best fundraisers
Comotosed (Como Interiors Ltd)

Once again the great and the good of UK construction took to the stage at The Vaults beneath Waterloo station last week for the industry鈥檚 annual charity battle of the bands, Construction Rocks.

When we say 鈥渢he great and the good鈥濃�� In some cases we mean a bunch of karaoke-standard, middle-managers inflicting themselves on bands staffed by their less senior, more talented co-workers. And at the other extreme, a group of ringers brought in because of their session-level musical ability and the fact that they have a tenuous connection to the firm in question (that John Bonham-esque drummer is actually the work experience kid鈥檚 brother-in-law, I bet鈥�). Some of them probably don鈥檛 even know what BIM is.

But because this year there was a whopping 11 bands featured on the bill we can鈥檛 possibly go into sufficient detail on all of them and identify exactly who we mean. Suffice to say WE ARE WATCHING YOU鈥� And we鈥檒l be back next year鈥�

So instead, we鈥檒l just focus on this year鈥檚 well-deserved winners - The Macenaries, from multidisciplinary construction firm Mace (nothing says 鈥渞ock 鈥榥鈥� roll鈥� like a construction firm that can be described as 鈥渕ultidisciplinary鈥�).

The band took the stage clad head-to-toe in black and sporting matching Macenaries-branded T-shirts (because, even more so, nothing says 鈥渞ock 鈥榥鈥� roll鈥� like a band in matching branded tops) and launched into a rollicking rendition of mid-1980s rock classic, and Lucozade advert theme, She Sells Sanctuary, originally by The Cult.

The cod-heavy metal look, rock star posturing (especially by the lead guitarist), and opening song choice all seemed slightly at odds with the fact that the band also sported that perrenial feature of 1970s/1980s middle-of-the-road pop music - the solo saxophonist. Although, despite the incongruity, she acquited herself very well, especially as the next song was Gerry Rafferty鈥檚 Baker Street (a song all cover bands with a sax are probably contractually obliged to play).

Some other bands in the competition who sported unusual elements included The Cats (a flute), The Wiesner Super Pianist and his Band (a loudhailer), and Comotosed (who appeared to have a Morris dancer). There is never any excuse for a Morris dancer.

Anyway, returning to the Macenaries, they ended their set reverting to hard rocking type with crowd-pleasing covers of Ain鈥檛 No Love in the Heart of the City, as recorded by Whitesnake, and AC/DC鈥檚 It鈥檚 a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 鈥榥鈥� Roll).

Overall their performance was deemed best by the judges - Pete French, ex-frontman of Atomic Rooster; Gina Way, owner of the Eel Pie Club; Adam Branson, professional and legal editor of Property Week; and Christopher Liddle, chair of HLM Architects - and Macenaries walked away with the top band prize.

Congratulations to them and those named as best new band - BskyB development and construction team鈥檚 The Bullets - and best fundraiser - Como Interiors鈥� Comotosed.

Congratulations as well to event organisers Bill Price and Nigel Fraser, who had a record year with Construction Rocks 2014 raising nearly 拢20,000, primarily for property industry charity LandAid, among others.

Also, well done to all the other bands: Sweett Group鈥檚 Blood, Sweett and Tears; Atkins鈥� Controlled Vibrations; Country and Metropolitan Homes鈥� Magic Sticks; Cluttons鈥� Mr Meaner; Assael Architecture鈥檚 Tender Package; Catalyst Housing鈥檚 The Cats; WSP鈥檚 The Wiesner Super Pianist and his Band; and Balfour Beatty鈥檚 Zero Charm. All of them raised a lot of money for the cause and turned up and played their socks off on the night (despite what may have been implied earlier in this article).

Until next year - rock on!