© Real Neato

The only thing worth getting up early for after such a big Friday and Saturday is the Greazefest Sunday Hot Rod Show and as usual, it didn’t disappoint. For the first time in a very long time I had no duties for the Sunday except to kick back and enjoy! That meant that I had plenty of time to take in the hot rods (I swear there are more and more every year) and all the wonderful stalls (there are DEFINITELY more and more every year).



© Real Neato

With Viva Las Vegas and my trip to the US next year firmly in mind, I didn’t actually buy anything! Well, almost anything. I spent a small amount on these two cute pug soaps from Sailor Mouth Soaps but as if I was going to walk past without picking some up. Seriously. But other than that I was a very good girl!


We got through the stalls on the oval first up to try and minimise our time out in the sun then made a dash for some spare seats on the bleachers to watch the fashion parade. Then it was time to visit the art village and take in all the talented people who contribute to the scene. It was also fun watching Von Hot Rod in pinstriping action.

© Real Neato

After hours on our feet we decided we needed some food, some drinks and a rest so we headed into the indoor area just in time to catch some of The Flattrakkers. For the uninitiated, the indoor area is practically the Bermuda Triangle of the hot rod show as once you go in…you hardly ever come back out! The lure of the bar, the shade, some seats and the fantastic bands is just too much to fight.

We caught up with friends while The Whiteliners played and enjoyed watching the more energetic folk having great fun out on the dancefloor. Such a talented bunch of musicians, we thoroughly enjoyed their set even on the sidelines. However as soon as they had made their way off stage, we started staking out some of the best spots down near the front for the next act – a big one!

Eddie Angel took to the stage to deliver a scorching Link Wray tribute that had me constantly shaking my head in disbelief. What this man can’t do with a guitar probably isn’t possible. Performing in his signature Mexican wrestling mask he had the crowd bopping and cheering for more. Coogee Timms, Dan Dualton and Jon Flynn provided the rest of the band for Eddie and it was great to see the fun they were all having with each other. Eddie performed with a charming modesty and flashes of showmanship that endeared him to the crowd and resulted in a fantastic encore.
While the trophies were handed out, we relaxed in the Hula Lounge and caught up with some of the familiar and slightly famous faces of the festival swapping stories of international festivals and comparing notes. It was extremely heartening and quite a proud moment to hear so many of the big international names praising Greazefest as one of the best.

We eventually pulled ourselves away to catch The Sin & Tonics who I was pretty excited to see, all the way from Tassie. I’d heard a lot of good things about these guys and from what I heard they lived up to every word of it. Unfortunately by this stage, the festival was drawing to a close and I somehow got distracted by everyone getting hectic. The lack of sleep and impending sickness was catching up with me and I had one of those moments where you kind of zone out and realise there’s this whole chunk of time missing and you wonder what happened to it. That.

© Pix by Pete

Sadly before we knew it, it was time for The Ten Fours to close the festival but what a fantastic choice they were as the last band! Extremely entertaining, it was great to see the guys up there just having fun doing their thing and not taking things to seriously. It was like one big fast celebration with all your fellow festival goers singing and dancing along in a ‘yay we made it through the weekend’ party. Such good fun all round, plus I love The Ten Fours. Their set was supposed to end, but they kept going for a while anyway. It was great. No one wanted to leave. No one wanted it to be over. I know I didn’t.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. Until next year at least! I know I say this every time but it has never rung truer than this year – Lori Lee did an amazing job at organising the festival which just continues to be the front runner in Australian rockabilly and kustom kulture festivals. She continues to innovate, continues to change and improve and add and bring out even bigger names. How she does it I’ll never know. I’d love to spend some time in that mind of hers just seeing how it ticks over.

Thanks Lori Lee, for keeping our community alive and giving us a place where for one whole weekend we can forget that the real world exists and immerse ourselves in our closest friends, our favourite music, our best clothes and our most loved rides.


Thanks for giving us a place where we can just be ourselves. There’s not much more powerful in life than that.