Blues September Showdown, Viligrad Winery featuring Darcy Perry

Blue September Showdown! Vilagrad Winery 2010. A fundraiser organised by blues guitarist Darcy Perry, who gathered an impressive lineup of blues and roots musicians all donating their time to raise awareness for prostate cancer. It was a full house with guests all painting their faces blue for the evening in support of the cause.

Blue September is the annual awareness campaign launched by the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand to draw attention to prostate cancer in New Zealand - one of the biggest killers of New Zealand men. It is estimated that at least half of the 600 annual deaths from prostate cancer could have been prevented had the cancer been diagnosed and treated early enough.

Spokesperson for Blue September, Darcy Perry, said, "Men are dying quietly in New Zealand. Cancer took the lives of both my dad and my father in-law. Men need to start taking action, talking to their doctors and taking better care of their health." Mr Perry said that he hoped if anything was to come out of the evening, it would be that it would result in a man somewhere having his life saved through early detection.

The line-up for the evening was diverse, from solo acoustic acts to lively electric blues bands, with every person appearing on stage painting their face blue to support prostate cancer awareness. Artists included Darcy Perry, Regan, Pete Fountain, Ashley Knox, Rachel Hope, Faith Miru, The Flaming Mudcats, The Gunsmiths, Andre Ngapo, Three's A Crowd, and Nate Taiapa.

For more information on Blue September, visit www.blueseptember.org