Beer & BBQ Festival @ Adelaide Showground, Wayville SA 14/7/2023
The place to be Friday night was at the Beer & BBQ Festival at the Adelaide Showground. Beer, BBQ and live music… what more could you want! It might have been cold but that didn’t stop the masses heading to Wayville for this staple on the festival schedule in Adelaide. The beer was flowing by a number of local brewers and from around the country and the best that BBQ has to offer as well in the Beer Hall (aka Wayville Pavilion). The live music line up for Friday night for rock solid which did give off a Big Day Out type of vibe under the atrium near the Ridley Gates.
Flying the Adelaide flag early were Street Legal, Juliette Seizure & The Tremor Dolls and the Stiff Necks. Like a lot of others coming straight from work there was just enough time to grab a drink and something to eat before the wonderful Katy Steele took the stage. It was been far to long since we have seen Katy play in Adelaide and this time around there was plenty to celebrate with her return having released her brand new album Big Star. Katy has really got something great with her new album playing a healthy serving from it plus a couple Little Birdy classics in Summarize and and Hairdo. New songs Falling Apart, Big Star, LMK, Feel So Bad and set closer Come See Me are absolute gems. Hopefully a return visit is on the cards soon.
Magic Dirt were awesome playing a cracking short fire forty minute set which no doubt was loud enough to get the masses out of the Beer Hall and down front to see them do what they do best… rock! It was straight in to Redhead and Sparrow before firing up the crowd with Plastic Loveless Letter. This was one of those vintage Big Day Out-esque performances that should have been recorded for prosperity. Raul said it was time to get ‘loosey and crazy’ pulling out some deep cuts from the Magic Dirt back catalogue by way of Grab Your Hair. Superagloo, All My Crushes, Pace It and Dirty Jeans were stellar to top things ending their set on I Was Cruel. Brilliant set!
Festival favourites The Living End know how to pull a crowd and leading up to their set they came from everywhere and it was absolutely jam packed under the atrium. Have we ever seen a bad Living End gig? Never! There was quite a buzz with front man Chris Cheney playing a secret gig earlier in the evening which would have been great to catch. The Living End proved why they were top billing with a high energy and entertaining set covering their back catalogue. Opening with Til The End they powered their way through Hey Hey Disbeliever and Second Solution. Cheney remarked that it felt like Big Day Out all over again charging their way through Roll On, Pictures In The Mirror and Bloody Mary. Scott Owen is incredible to watch on double bass and Chris Cheney is elite watching him play guitar not forgetting Adelaide’s very own Andy Strachan on drums.
With a strict curfew looming the hits kept coming with Drop The Needle, Uncle Harry and All Torn Down. Cheney said that AI can’t replace the brilliance of Scott Own warning that the cyborgs are coming. With that in mind asked the crowd if they wanted metal! A resounding cheer heralded the intro to How Do We Know. West End Riot (celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this October) was awesome finishing on White Noise. The band had to leave the stage as the curfew was up but Cheney and company returned to the stage saying that rules are meant to be broken finishing on the crowd pleaser Prisoner Of Society.
That might of been the end of the night for some and for others it was more beer and BBQ as the rest of the night started to fade away. How was your Friday night?
Live Review By Rob Lyon