What do you get when you combine over 150 types of delicious craft beer and a slew of great Aussie music? You get the killer Beer InCider experience of course - and it’s clear the founders are really passionate about their event. Across a Friday night and Saturday at the RNA showgrounds in Brisbane, Australian music heavyweights The Smith Street Band and The Jungle Giants were joined by a bunch of solid acts. Tired Lion, Mallrat, Bad//Dreems, Alice Ivy, Press Club, Bugs Bris182, Morning Harvey and Sweater Curse brought their all to the stage.
In the realm of music, Friday night kicked things off with an indie pop extravaganza. Alice Ivy graced the stage in herorange and blue jumpsuit to play some of her energetic and head bopping tunes to an eager crowd. Next up on the bill was Brisbane local Mallrat to bounce around the stage and get the buzz building for the final act of the night.
The Jungle Giants played to a hometown crowd with all of their best and biggest hits like ‘She’s a Riot’ and ‘Feel The Way I Do’. They owned the stage and demonstrated that they are now veterans of anyfestival scene, big or small. While all the music and stage antics were going down, the taps were flowing. A popular choice was the beer brewed by some of the very performers from the festival. The Lee Hartney Experience (an inside joke), Poolside IPA was brewed by none other than The Smith Street band in combination with Victorian Fixation Brewing.
Saturday was a hell of a whopping day for both music and beer, with things kicking off just after lunch. Another group of locals, Bugs, played their classic Australiana style of sound to an enthusiastic crowd and added a few roundhouse kicks in for good measure.
As the sun set and the ping pong competitions got fiercer, Press Club provided us with some of their angsty tracks - an all out performance with some serious energy by the frontwoman. A killer circle pit formed, and beer was split for cover band Bris182 who cover nothing but the discography of legends Blink-182.
The night might have gotten chilly but you just needed to be amongst the mosh for Bad//Dreems or Tired Lion and things heated up. It’s clear both acts love what they do with the energy they brought to stage. Though it’s possible that Sophie from Tired Lion missed the memo that it was a beer festival, as she took straight swigs from a bottle of Jack Daniels on stage.
Closing out the festival on the Saturday night, The Smith Street band (plus friends) played to a fervent and waiting crowd. It was clear that ‘Death to The Lads’ was the biggest song of the weekend based on the crowd’s response. It was the cherry on top of a purely Australian festival that celebrated everything we have to offer when it comes to music and beer.
📸 by Thomas Vu