Artist: Hilltop Hoods / A.B Original / Elsy Wameyo / D.J Total Eclipse
Date: Saturday 27th August 2022
Venue: Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Reviewer: Hayley Treadwell
Photographer: Andrew Treadwell Photography

I’m just going to keep saying it! Having live music back is life!! 

We arrived early at the Entertainment Centre in Brisbane and the crowd was already huge for the sell-out show of the Hilltop Hoods, The Show Business Tour. Brisbane was the 2nd stop on the road for the boys, and I think the crowd numbers certainly showed how thankful we were to have Hilltop Hoods back in Brisbane! 

As we got inside the venue, the doors to the arena were not yet opened and you got a real sense of just how sold out the show was! Waiting for the doors to open, I heard D.J Total Eclipse start the music so as we walked into the arena the party had already started. I loved that D.J Total Eclipse was part of this line up! Having good music playing between each act as we wait for the Headliner kept the energy up and everyone in a good mood! 

The first performance of the night was Kenyan born, Australian singer-songwriter Elsy Wameyo. I hadn’t heard of Elsy before, but as her band took the stage I was instantly intrigued. They played a really funky tune and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, and then this incredibly powerful, gorgeous African woman took the stage and started rapping up a storm! Dancing her way across the stage I was instantly in love with her vibe and her music! Elsy gave us rap, ballads and what I would class as tribal hip hop then back to rap, and delivered it all with such conviction! She is incredible! Keep an eye on this young lady! 

More tunes from D.J Total Eclipse as we wait for the next act, A.B Original. I think the DJ between sets keeps the vibe in the crowd going, as opposed to the usual piped music you get over the PA at shows

A.B Original may have only had a short set but they ripped through it like a freight train at high speed. Their cover of Paul Kelly’s “Dumb Things” was amazing live and the fresh twist on the classic was welcomed by the crowd with a resounding cheer that drowned out the music coming from the stage. “King Billy Coke” may not have been the most appropriate track for the many young kids in the crowd but you cannot fault Briggs and Trial for wanting to speak their truth. They were also joined by WAAX’ enigmatic front woman Maz for a track, who’s laid back vocal approach made for an interesting contrast to the straight up in your face attack of A.B Original

D.J Eclipse really kept us dancing as we waited for our headliner, and as he played his last song and the arena turned black, the screams started and then the screens lit up! 

Hilltop Hoods opened the show with a video montage of them arriving in our beautiful Brisbane, and went on to capture people arriving for the show, with scenes from previous shows thrown in!! The crowd was instantly pumped and when Hilltop Hoods ran onto the stage, streamers shot in the air and Brisbane kicked into the greatest party ever! It’s been a long time since I have danced the night away like that! But from start to finish there was no possible way you couldn’t move along with the crowd. Looking from one end to the other was a sea of people with their hands in the air, bouncing and vibing along to every single song!! I have seen many shows at the Entertainment Centre and I have never seen the stands pumping so much!!! People were out of their seats everywhere, it was awesome! 

Hilltop Hoods opened with their 2018 hit release, ‘Leave Me Lonely’, then a bit of a chat to the crowd and an acknowledgement to their young fans right up the front, then into ‘Chase That Feeling’! Another quick check in with the crowd and then the Hilltop boys took it back a bit, for the 40 somethings of us in the crowd and tore up the stage with ‘The Nosebleed Section’. With those first 3 songs the energy in the Entertainment center and the group’s connection to the crowd was off the charts! 

Hilltop Hoods played songs spanning their career including 1955, Clark Griswold, Exit Sign and and finished their set with ‘I’m a Ghost’ and swiftly left the stage. It was the longest wait for an encore I’ve experienced for a while, but I loved it! It reinforced that old school concert vibe we had been given all night! 

When they returned to the stage Hilltop Hoods played a game with the crowd during ‘Rattling the Keys to the Kingdom’ by getting everyone to hold up and wave around an article of clothing!!! What a fun and somewhat daring game! But the crowd was all in and the clothes were coming off around us everywhere being waved over everyone’s heads. Then Hilltop Hoods, thanked Brisbane for the party, and closed out the night with a flurry of streamers and confetti blasting from cannons and raining down on us while the epic final pyro display lit up the stage and we all had one last groove to ‘Cosby Sweater’. The boys were joined on stage by A.B Original and Elsy Wameyo for the final song which really added to the party! I’m sure as everyone left the stage confetti was still raining down and the crowd was truly satisfied with the incredible show we had been treated to! 

Doing what we do, we are fortunate to go to many shows, and we have a great time at every show. But tonight, at Hilltop Hoods, we had the most amount of fun we have had in a very long time and I absolutely cannot wait for the next time Hilltop Hoods are in town so we can take the whole family along for the party! 

And if you can’t quite catch the vibe of last night from my words, check out Hilltop Hoods insta from today, they have posted a great video of their time in Brisbane which I think shows they had just as much fun as we did! 

Hilltop Hoods we had an absolute blast! Thank you to the bands, TEG Live, MJR Presents, and Mad Dog Publicity for having us along! 

Until the next gig 

Hayley x