Another very successful year for this annual, iconic rockabilly music festival held in Camperdown. It has just about everything one wants for a 1950's theme event with a variety of live bands including from overseas (rockabilly, rock 'n' roll and even swing), lots of dancing in 4 different rooms/locations, 1950's style fashion parades, Pin Up competition, burlesques performance, hot rods and Kustoms display and merchandise galore. The Wise Guyz from Ukraine was the headline act and the band certainly didn't disappoint drawing huge applause from the adoring crowd. Perth rockabilly band, Shakedown from Sugar Town (Rusty Pinto), clearly was another crowd favourite along with the Lincolns and Lucky 7 Swing from Adelaide. A number of Melbourne bands played as well including the Straight 8's, Kieron McDonald, Itchy Fingers and Billy O'Neil and the Headliners. Other bands at the festival hailed from Queensland and Sydney.
I really thought adverse conditions would drive away the crowd this year with rain and cold weather hitting Victoria in the days leading to the festival. I can still remember the big rain and flood nearly washing out Bright RIO Rockabilly Festival 2 years ago. It was indeed fortunate that the rain stopped, and weather conditions generally improved greatly over the weekend. Even the sun came out shining in patches on Saturday and Sunday. The result - another great festival drawing a big crowd!
The rockabilly music festival clearly has grown over the years. The event seems better organised and widely promoted in the electronic media such as Facebook. There is now even a dance floor at the Clock Tower stage which has been a popular place to dance and to showcase live music and dancing on the main street in Camperdown. Its growing popularity is drawing patrons and supporters from all over Australia with large contingents in attendance especially from Perth, Queensland and Sydney.
Well done to Arthur and his band of dedicated volunteers in staging Camperdown Cruise 2013. I had a great time there and can't wait for the next one in 2014.
Agree totally Jitterbug! A few of the Rosebud Rockers went up for the weekend and we had a ball. Great bands, great atmosphere. We will be back next year for sure
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