GreazeFest 2008 Photos (Page 2)

words by Lori Lee | photos by Pix by Pete

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Hot Rod Show

The advertised opening time of 9am means nothing to hot rod enthusiasts who have been waiting all year for GreazeFest to roll around and by 8.30am the oval was already half full of cars on display. By the time the first band started around one hour later, the oval was totally chock a block full of hot rods, customs, classics, rats, Aussie iron, motorbikes and lowrider cycles.

GreazeFest Hot Rod Awards

The selection of recipients for the GreazeFest Hot Rod Show is fast paced, as to fit in with the tight schedule of the day. The awards are not about declaring any person, their car, bike or piece of artwork better than anybody else’s. The recipients in each category are chosen who most represent the spirit of the GreazeFest. Remember, the GreazeFest is a celebration, not a competition. The recipients are:

King Rod (hot rod) – Clayton & Kelly’s purple channeled 1936 Ford.

King Rat (rat rod) – Matt’s pink 1959 Fairlane coupe.

King Kustom (custom) – Peter’s lime green and metalflaked 1965 Buick Riviera.

King Kroozer (longest distance) – Neil’s white VG Valiant wagon, driven from Melbourne.

Trophy Queen (gal driver) – Wilamina’s blue XP Falcon sedan.

King Ride (motorbike) – Tim’s 1939 Ariel.

King Lowrider (bicycle) – Mason’s metalflaked and scalloped cycle with matching helmet.

Boss Artists (artist) – Buzz Bomb Betty by Rob Walker + Motorcycle photo montage by Darren Mortimer
 

Low Brow Art Show

The GreazeFest Low Brow Art Show hit a new high this year and has consequently outgrown the normal display marquee, so we had to hang the overflowing pieces inside the TCB Magazine stall. Once again there was a really inspiring display of artwork that included paintings, screen prints, photography, skate decks and rockabilly puppets!

I’m glad to have taken a spare moment or two to decide on a piece of artwork to purchase and add to the gallery in the GreazeFest digs. This year I selected the Buzz Bomb Betty painting by Rob Walker, one of three he had on display.

Rob has been a long time supporter and participant at GreazeFest and, man, he can do some crazy paintings, so it was also cool to recognise him with the GreazeFest Boss Artist award for 2008. Also acknowledged with a Boss Artist award was Darren Mortimer, who displayed a distinctive motorcycle photo montage.
 

Live Bands

DJ Leapin’ Lawrie set the scene for the day with a killer set of hot rod tunes and rare rockabilly. Doug Wilshire & The Tailspinners were first band on stage (their sunglasses hiding the previous evening’s activities) and Doug lead the band through an excellent set of rockabilly and hopped up hillbilly.

Corn Liquor looked right at home on the back of the semi-trailer and played a neat set of rural moonshine melodies. Miss Teresa & Her Rhythmaires had the dance floor filled with their authentic rockabilly bop. The Flattrakkers made a welcome return to GreazeFest and had their fans dancing to a full throttle set of hot rod rockabilly.

After the Kitten Katwalk, Checkered Fist played their second performance at GreazeFest, but their set marked the first casualty as the bridge on Damon’s double bass blew out! A replacement bass was quickly summoned and as Lady Luck left the building, the bridge on that bass also collapsed. When the Nervous Wreckers started their show, believe it or not, a third bass blew out leaving the stage staff and the musos thinking “what the hell is going on???!”

The Men Into Space alien approached me and his Spock-like-logic suggested that the late afternoon sun hitting the stage, combined with the cool night air that was rolling into the grounds made the bass strings and the timbers react, causing the blowouts. Time was whizzing by as the final band of the day, The Ten Fours, made it on stage and cranked it into gear with a tough set of bluesabilly.
 

Kitten Katwalk

Kitten Katwalk

This year saw the launch of the very first Kitten Katwalk parade and hundreds of people in the audience surrounded the stage to watch the Kittens strut. The Swingin’ Kitten introduced each entrant as they walked the walk to Limpin’ Jimmy, who talked the talk with more gorgeous gals than he has met in ages.

The catwalk may have presented a fashion challenge for many participants, as the daytime scheduling meant their outfits had to suitable for the stage, but also practical enough to endure the outdoor conditions and the warm weather at the hot rod show. The sight of pearl white skin baking in the afternoon sun made me run to grab a spare parasol to shade some of the gals that may have been rethinking their off the shoulder outfits.
 

Trailer Trash Tattoo

One of the busy gals on the day was tattooist Mimsy, who was buzzing all day long at her Trailer Trash Tattoo caravan that was an absolute hit.

Says Mimsy: “I did about 8 tattoos on some really awesome people. A cool anchor on a forearm, a Pogues tattoo with a 3 leaf clover, a skull with spanners, a deck of cards, some dice, a v8 symbol, a nautical star, a cutesy coffin and more. I had loads more people wanting to get tattooed, but it was important to me that I really took my time to do a good job.”
 

Audience

The Press Gets it Wrong

On the day before the Hot Rod Show, the Courier Mail featured a number of striking photo stories about GreazeFest. It was exciting to read about the GreazeFest in the mainstream press, but it suddenly became frustrating as I read ‘free entry for participants’ in two of their articles.

Even with the GreazeFest web site bulging with information, multiple press releases, ticket price options, FAQs, ten thousand GreazeFest flyers etc, the press still got it wrong and declared the show was free for entrants. Understandably this caused a bit of anxiety at the entry gate as GreazeFest first timers, who thought they were coming in for free, were asked for a $20 entry fee! Ouch!

I’m sure that once any other first-timers came into the show, they would see where their $20 goes. The GreazeFest is not a $3 swap meet. It is not Wintersun. It is not a morning show’n’shine run by a car club. It is not the Cleveland car show. It is GreazeFest and it is unique.

While we are talking about ticket prices, there is one change coming up next year. As you would know, under 12s have always been free at GreazeFest, but next year we will release a family pass, as we are noticing heaps of adults who are bringing along their teenage kids to show them how to really have fun.

GreazeFest Gives Back

The GreazeFest may be the only carbon neutral hot rod show in the world. Just like last year, GreazeFest ‘carbon-neutralised’ the Hot Rod Show by donating to Carbon Neutral, an Australian organisation who will plant 80 trees on behalf of all the vehicles at GreazeFest. To calculate this, I estimated 300 cars with V8 engines, driving an average of 100kms each, which worked out to 12 tonnes of CO2, which have now been offset.

After Party

Twilight marked the start of the after party, back indoors at the Souths clubhouse. West Texas Crude and The Quick Draw McGraws both put in top notch sets of rockabilly and rock’n’roll.

The rather large and well-oiled crowd remained for the duration of the night, until the GreazeFest staff reluctantly closed the curtain on a truly spectacular weekend.