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Over four nights in early June, EnergyAustralia customers were treated to Solange Knowles and Neil Finn at the Sydney Opera House as part of a concert series celebrating ambitious popular music.
Each night, two customers and their guests were chosen for a surprise backstage experience which showed them the inner workings of Australia’s biggest house.
We caught up with two of the Saturday night’s winners, Anna and Ryan, before they started the tour and both were looking forward to seeing the iconic building from the inside:
“I do a lot of work in theatre so it will be really exciting to see behind the scenes. I have been before, but only for school, so it will be good to see it in a professional context,” says Anna.
And Ryan: “I’m very much looking forward to seeing how everything works backstage and what it looks like architecturally – I’m a civil engineer so I’m interested in what the building looks like and how it was constructed.”
While only a few experienced the backstage tour, all our customers got to enjoy the talented artists perform to sold out crowds on the famous Sydney Opera House stage.
Ryan, another backstage experience winner, said he was looking forward to hearing Solange’s R&B set as he usually listened to classical music. After the show, we got his reaction: “The whole crowd was dancing, wow it was just electrifying."
“Instead of a typical Saturday night staying at home, it made it very enriching – an eye opener for me. Especially now I’m exposed to another genre of songs, and to Solange,” he says.
And the backstage experience? “I am speechless, it’s not the glamour of all the shows but it’s very interesting to see what goes on in the background. We normally only see the front of the show, but it’s much more technical back there.”
“I now appreciate all the hard work, not only the artists, but all the people involved in every performance here,” he says.
Customers were chosen for the experience after they entered a competition which asked them to send us their best winter energy efficiency tip via our EnergyAustralia Facebook page.
Some were huge fans of the artists, others were being introduced to them for the first time. One pair travelled from Wollongong for the night and another couple was enjoying their first night out in three years.
What tips do our customers have for being energy efficient this winter?
Our customers have plenty of great ideas - and some slightly unconventional ones - when it comes to being energy efficient over winter. Here’s some of their tips:
- In Winter, layers are your friend! Layer yourself with thermals, blankets, snuggies and warm P. J’s. Layer your house with curtains, blinds and draught stoppers!
- We don’t have heating in our house so the daughter and I just throw our socks and gowns on and an extra blanket on our beds and snuggle down.
- Use high star rating energy efficient appliances, install insulation in your walls, turn off your electric blanket after warming up the bed. And, enjoy a hot drink before bed.
- Open curtains on your north-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home, and close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows!
- Use warm winter clothes and blankets in lieu of an electric heater. And pay your energy bills before due dates to save more by availing discounts.
Click here for winter energy saving tips from some of our favourite home and lifestyle bloggers.