Beer & BBQ Festival @ The Drive, Adelaide 10-11/7/2026
The dust has settled on the 2026 iteration of Beer & Beer Festival, and what a beauty! With its new spiritual home at The Drive it seems a perfect fit for many years to come making it all the easier to get there and make a weekend of it staying in town. There were plenty of great memories at Adelaide Showgrounds at Wayville but with a new home it is the perfect opportunity to create new memories and Beer & BBQ Festival folklore.
Adelaide was buzzing on Friday and typically when it comes to shows here it doesn’t just rain it pours. There is this uncanny knack of scheduling every major event and touring act to be on the same night with just about every venue in town having something on spoiling Adelaidians with plenty of options. That said the place to be Friday night was at the Beer & BBQ Festival at The Drive. Has a really cool ring to it! Beer, BBQ and live music… what more could you want! It might have been cold but that didn’t stop the masses heading to The Drive in its new spiritual home. The beer was flowing by a number of local brewers and from around the country and the best that BBQ has to offer that were scattered around The Drive. The live music line up for Friday night for rock solid which did give off a nod to 90s Aus rock alumni in TISM, Ratcat, The Mavis’s and international rock star Ben Kweller.
Friday night vibes were at an all time with The Drive absolutely packed. No doubt they have a good base to work from with this compact two format working well. Like anything there were some teething issues in particular getting through the traffic at times being so packed on the floor which was awkward, making it more obvious where particular vendors were located, sign posting the Pickle Saloon. A consistent issue right throughout night one was the sound mix which could have of been better. Nevertheless, there were some great performance on the main stage.
The Last Resort hosted some great bands with the likes of Sonic Reducer, Young Offenders, Jon Ann and Sandy Dish. For me, my focus was at the main stage catching some bands I haven’t seen in a very long time. The Mavis’s don’t look like they had aged at all having the time of the lives up their with set highlights including Naughty Boy and Cry. Judging by the response I’m sure we’ll be seeing them again sometime soon.
Hard to believe that it has been thirty-five years since Ratcat last played in Adelaide. Absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder. They to had sound issues but ploughed on playing all the Aus rock classics That Ain’t Bad, Don’t Go Now and Baby Baby. Great to be able to finally tick them off my list. Ben Kweller more than made up for lost time (last here fourteen years ago) playing a lively and exciting set… he was full of beans and was up and about. Joined by McLovin (Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse) from the iconic film Superbad added to on stage vibe later doing a shooey after some encouragement. There were some great songs in there with Family Dress, Falling, Penny On The Train Track and the song which seemed apt for the moment Wasted & Ready. With a promise to return in 2027 we look forward to that tour.
TISM need no introduction and full marks for commitment to the outfit, they don’t do anything by halves. All the classic old school TISM t-shirts were on show and it was worth the asking price alone to see these guys. Expect the unexpected is the hallmarks of a TISM show and that’s what Adelaide got. The outfits looked like something out of Alien and right from when this collective hit the stage the crowd were in to it. So much so when front man Ron Hitler-Barassi goes up to the barrier the crowd were keen to de-mask him. With balls of steel during I Drive A Truck he jumps out in to the crowd.
The set offered plenty in I’m Interested In Apathy, Thunderbirds are Coming Out and Saturday Night Palsy get the Adelaide faithful excitable. Death To Art was preceded by a rant about Australian values later pulling out some Old Skool TISM and an absolute banger Greg! The Stop Sign. Phones were out to capture this one and the same for (He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River. The encore topped things off nicely with ‘70’s Football, Whatareya? and The Mystery of the Artist Explained. That was essentially day one done and with many making a beeline for the door, for the rest it was more beer and more BBQ.
The Saturday night program offered something a little bit different compared to the Friday night program. Pretty hard to top what we had already seen but one observation was that Tim Rogers should have been on the main stage. Fantastic! The Pickle Saloon was absolute packed and the frustrating thing was the noise bleed from the main stage which clearly was frustrating Tim who responded saying “that’s showbusiness” pushing on valiantly. Ian Dury & The Blockheads cover Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll was a killer opener followed by some You Am I gems Tuesday, Berlin Chair, Purple Sneakers and crowd favourite Heavy Heart. New tune The Has-been is gold and packed full of Tim Rogers trademark quick wit lyricism and charm. I Just Can’t Do Crazy Today was fantastic which morphed in to Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better. Despite the competing noise issues this was a great set finishing on Songs They Played As I Drove Away and Damage.
It is unfortunate that SPEED were on at the same time bringing Sydney hardcore to The Drive. The footage look impressive. Catching a few songs from the remaining bands on offer, all having some great moments including Melbourne punk rockers Public Figures and Adelaide’s very own indie band Bromham which made me wonder why I haven’t seen them until now. Noise rock duo for me, Party Dozen, are an acquired taste, respect what they do but it was time to have a wander around the site. By the time Tropical Fuckstorm hit the stage I was cooked. They have earnt their stripes touring everywhere around the world and come highly regarded. Even Tim Rogers spoke high of them during his set. So, it is well deserved that they got top billing to close out Beer & BBQ Festival. I dig the tunes Braindrops and Paradise.
It is great that Beer & BBQ Festival have evolved and haven’t rested on their laurels forging a new identity in their new spiritual home. With a few tweaks this will continue to be a great event. Let the speculation for next year’s line up begin.
Live Review Review By Rob Lyon