Review: Benjamin Coe
It’s an ironically cold and wet day in Toowoomba to mark the start of the 2026 edition of the Red Hot Summer Tour but the weather has done nothing to deter a legion of Aussie rock fans from swarming upon Queens Park to witness some of the finest contemporary rock acts this country has to offer. And as an extra-special sweetener, we are all here to bear witness to the long-awaited reunion of the iconic Australian Crawl, who are sharing the stage together for the first time in 4 decades.
Camp chairs are littered across the arena as the fans take up their positions for the day and everyone settles in with nice cold beverage hidden beneath their ponchos to hide from the ever-threatening rain.
First up today is the tours “sassy lassy”, Ella Hooper. The well-known frontwoman for 90’s rock superstars Killing Heidi has gone full country mode for today’s performance off the back of the recent release of her debut album Overnight Success. With only her guitar and cherub-like charm, Hooper makes her way through an endearing set of songs from her debut album (which she proudly proclaims to be “Cow-Punk”) including set opener Cowboy Man, Just Along for the Ride and Bad Word, one that she cheekily tells the crowd is “for and about assholes…the people, not the bodypart”. She even includes a couple of crowd-pleasing Killing Heidi covers, finishing off her brief but beautiful set with an acoustic rendition of their hit single Weir.
Next up, from way south of the border in Melbourne town, is Aussie rock mainstays Boom Crash Opera, who give the expanding crowd their first taste of full-band rock shenanigans for the day. Opening with Great Wall from 1987’s self-titled album, it is clear from the get-go that these guys still know how to have a good time on stage. The chemistry between frontman Dale Ryder and guitarist Peter Farnan is palpable as they rip through tracks from across their catalogue such as Gimme, Hands Up in the Air and the aptly titled, Dancing in the Storm which gets the crowd singing along and shaking their tail feathers. The set also marks the first of many appearances of the gigantic inflatable Skippy the Kangaroo and Vegemite jars that get bounced excitedly around the crowd. Onionskin sees Ryder do the introduction rounds for the band members as they all perform a quick solo, Farnan’s psychedelic guitar solo ultimately taking top prize.
The weather begins to even out somewhat before songstress sisters Vika & Linda Bull come streaming onto the stage backed by their super tight band, The Bullettes. Looking radiantly angelic in their pure white get-ups, the two sisters take the crowd back to the 90’s with set-opener When Will You Fall For Me?. The powerhouse vocal duo show off their incredible skill on tracks such as We’ve Started A Fire and Raise Your Hand, while older sister Vika takes lead on That’s How I Pray and brings the tempo down for a beat before launching into the rockin’ and rollin’ Hard Love. The set borrows heavily from their 1994 debut album Vika & Linda but also features new track Where Do You Come From?, which addresses the struggles the girls had of growing up with dark skin in a predominately white skinned Australia. But nothing has slowed these two down and as they belt out The Black Sorrows smash hit Never Let Me Go the crowd is right there with them.
Hailing all the way from Fremantle WA, Eskimo Joe are no strangers to the festival stage and as vocalist and bassist Kav Temperley leads his musical cohort onto the Red Hot Summer Tour stage the ever-expanding crowd goes wild. 2006 smash hit single Sarah gets things underway and from the first notes of the guitar riff the audience are hooked and the band are absolutely loving every second of it. Tracks like New York and Foreign Land are crowd favourites, Kav even puts the bass guitar away and goes full frontman during The First Time before dedicating and old school banger in Wake Up to the old school Eskimo Joe fans, the ones that used to come and watch them play at the epic Big Day Out festivals back in the day. The energy from the crowd feeds the energy coming off the stage in a perpetual transfer of top tier vibes and by the time Black Fingernails, Red Wine rolls around the only bad thing going is that the set is coming to a close with From The Sea. A solid performance by a solid band.
We’re now into the business end of the evening with only 3 bands left to grace the stage and as the pit area fills to the sides, Perth rockers Birds of Tokyo come storming onto the stage, smiles aplenty. The opening notes of I’d Go With You Anywhere force the crowd into peak excitement as they start swaying to smooth sounds coming from the band. It’s an energetic start to the set with Smith Street and Silhouettic following on and giving way to feel-good anthem Unbreakable, drawing an emotional response from a few in the crowd. The Greatest Mistakes gets a decent sing along before the vocalist Ian Kenny introduces a brand new, unnamed song that the boys have just finished recording. Guitarist and songwriter Adam Spark notes that they were on a huge Tom Petty bender while writing the new song and it surely wears the influence on its sleeve. The WA boys bring the tempo down for a moment with some sappy love ballads in Two of Us and Anchor before delivering one of the best live performances of the day in an emotionally driven rendition of Wayside. They even throw in a cheeky cover of the Travelling Wilbury’s tune Handle With Care which they all grew up listening to with their parents. But before you know it, they’re playing Lanterns and any fan of Birds of Tokyo knows, that signals the close of the set.
As the sun goes down, so does the temperature. But never fear, because Australian 80’s rock powerhouse Men At Work are here to get you moving and warm things up a little. Sporting an amazingly bedazzled jacket, frontman Colin Hay marches onto the stage and declares that the band will “give you what we’ve got”, taking a jaunty swipe at his age and longevity. The years have not affected his ability to smash out a tune though and his vocals are absolutely on point through a set heavily taken from their first two albums 1981’s Business As Usual and 1983’s follow up Cargo featuring the likes of No Restrictions, High Wire and It’s a Mistake. Hay tells a funny little anecdote of and old friend of his back in the 70’s sharing some “Sumatran Tripping Grass” with him before they wrote Down by the Sea and jokes that the song was originally 4 ½ hours long before playing a beautiful rendition of the hit.
The frontman takes time towards the back end of the set to introduce his international collective who are providing the backing for Men at Work’s many smash hits. Multi-instrumentalist, Rachel Mazer absolutely shines during her saxophone and flute solos and even provides a nice little mix of keyboards and backing vocals in between. Backing vocalist, Cecilia Noel prances and flutters about the stage in all her hippy-pixie hybrid glory in between singing harmonies and smashing out a range of percussive instruments. The Cuban-based rhythm section are absolutely on fire and lead guitarist Miguel Perez shreds his solos amongst the best of them.
As the band rip through the smash hit everyone knows and loves, Down Under, the set draws near to a close but the energy in the crowd is at an all-time high for the day. It’s a shame it has to end, but alas, Be Good Johnny signals the departure of Men at Work after a mighty performance and the band bow their way off the stage.
Then it’s finally time for the event “40 years in the making”. The return to the stage of one of the most iconic Australian rock groups, Australian Crawl. Frontman James Reyne takes the stage bathed in spotlight, accompanied by keyboardist Sean Johnson for a stunning version of Hoochie Gucci Fiorucci Mama before being joined by the rest of the band for the title track from their 1980 hit album The Boys Light Up.
Reyne’s vocals are unmistakable and as he and the band dip into their catalogue of surf rock favourites such as Daughters of the North Coast, Indisposed and the heavy-hitting White Limbo the crowd are up and out of their camper chairs and dancing like no one’s watching. Reyne and his men are outspokenly grateful for the reception they are given with a barrage of “thank you’s” dished out after almost every song. Despite their age, it’s like they never left. The band are tight and proficient and it’s almost as if the last 40 years never happened!
The loudest singalongs of the day come with smash hits Downhearted and Reckless with the crowd absolutely belting every single word back at the band, much to their delight. As the main set draws to a close and the band exit the stage, the chants erupt for an encore and the boys in Australian Crawl are more than happy to oblige with their hit Things Don’t Seem. And as Reyne and his band thank the crowd one last time and take in the incredible reception to their return, the organisers of Red Hot Summer Tour treat the crowd to a spectacular fireworks display as they slowly exit Queens Park with an unforgettable evening tucked firmly under their belts.