Live Review: Meatstock

The tempting aroma of BBQ meat swirled over the Sydney Showground on Saturday enticing punters' tastebuds to the nth degree. Meatstock was back with a plethora of butchery and BBQ masterclasses, competitions, expositions, stallholders, food vendors, beer and good music including an excess of blokes who know how to nurture and maintain a lumberjack beard. For those attending for the whole day there was plenty on offer and there was never any shortage of food or entertainment.

The afternoon music itinerary included Texas country maverick Austin Allsup, armed with only his guitar and his cowboy hat, howling tunes in his southern drawl, imploring for some hard liquor and a break from hard work, sweetening the audience with a cover of the Rolling Stones classic Wild Horses.

Austin Allsup. Photo by Jay Beaumont

Adelaide soul-singing extraordinaire Adrian Eagle and his trio took to the stage. His soaring voice went down well with a predominately seated crowd, playing love songs and putting out lots of positive vibes among the Meatstock faithful with his reggae and soul fusion.

Adrian Eagle. Photo by Jay Beaumont

On the north side of the Showgrounds, the Wars Stage, an indoor expo area had everything a meat-eater and beer-drinker would desire: carving knives, chopping boards, dry ageing cabinets, a variety of sauces and even meat thermometers. International butchers were invited to compete with Australians on who could create the best-displayed cuts and the Brazilians showed how presentation can be an art in itself. Outside, attendees were treated to Texas and Argentinian BBQs as well as the biggest Buffalo Trace spit pit and Sweetstock tent full of sweets. 

As the cold weather came through in the late afternoon, Henry Wagons and his band warmed up the crowd with some good old-fashioned electric blues and country. The charismatic frontman thoroughly entertained his audience, flinging buffalo meat into the crowd, while playing some rocking blues jams that encouraged everyone to call out loud the name of his song and idol Willie Nelson.

Henry Wagons. Photo by Jay Beaumont

Headline act The Sweet Jelly Rolls were the ideal outfit to close a festival that almost felt like Texas had landed at Olympic Park. The Sydney duo played authentic country and blues, adding a healthy dose of tongue and cheek by greeting the crowd as “shaggers”. As if their thunderous vocals weren’t enough, the two of them managed a guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonica and kick drum all at the same time.

The festival’s sold out attendance as well as the scheduling for the barbecue demonstrations and music performances made for a very successful 2019 Meatstock. The promoters did a great job in selecting diverse and suitable music acts for the event and there was never an issue with food running out or vendors and stallholders not getting enough customers during the day. This carnivorous festival may not please vegetarians or animal rights groups, but it very much caters to a vast crowd and will likely keep punters coming back for years to come.