26 July 2025 – Sandstone Point Hotel, Bribe Island – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi – pictures by Bec Lee
I headed off to Sandstone Point prepared. Every time I go there – it rains. I packed the poncho and hoped beyond all reason, and the BOM’s forecast, for a dry day.
Sandstone Point Hotel was celebrating its 10th birthday with a massive day and evening of classic Australian rock bands with their Party On The Point. The crowd was large and obviously up for whatever comes with the weather. The bands featured today, Matt Finish, The Chantoozies, Mi-Sex, Chocolate Starfish, The Angels, James Reyne and Hoodoo Gurus reminded everyone lucky enough to be at Sandstone Point that good rock ‘n’ roll bands do not fade away. They just get better like vintage wine.
The day commenced with Matt Finish. It is hard to kick off a massive event like this one with all these amazing bands to follow on after you – it requires the band to do some heavy lifting. Matt Finish did a great job of carrying the start of the day. Matt Finish includes founder and multi award-winning composer and producer John Prior with the fantastic vocalist Glenn Bidmead, Wa Wa Nee guitarist Steve Williams and Lime Spider’s Phil Hall.
Matt Finish delivered a no frills set of their strong songs. Matt Finish’s 1981 album ‘Short Note’ is a landmark album in Australian rock music. They were one of the first bands to blend rock and new wave influences. The title song ‘Short Note’ from the album is an Australian classic. The band also played other songs like ‘Layman’s Day’, ‘Hanging On’, ‘Mancini Shuffle’ and ‘Fade Away’.
Matt Finish’s set was interesting. The band were great with their instruments as you would expect from such skilled musicians. It was the singer Glenn Bidmead lovely rock voice that breathed life back into the songs that was special.
The storm clouds rolled in as The Chantoozies took to the stage. Their excellent (and I do mean excellent) guitarist Jak Housden was interviewed and did the classiest transition into the girls set. The Chantoozies are an Australian female pop group and the duo today was Caroline ‘Tottie’ Goldsmith and Eve von Bibra. The Chantoozies started with the Stephen Still’s cover ‘Love The One Your With’ and got the crowd singing along. The Chantoozies followed it quickly with the Redbone cover of ‘The Witch Queen Of New Orleans’ which was a hit for them in the 1980s. It was a very quick set as they brought a few of their original infectious hit songs like ‘Kiss ’n’ Tell’ and ‘Wanna Be Up’ out for an airing and they sounded great.
Chantoozies – Party on the Point – photos by Bec Lee
The Chantoozies had a phenomenal backing band in bassist Dario Bortolin, the amazing drummer Jordan McDonald, the guitarist Jak Housden and the keyboardist Colin Coorie. The girls finished their set with a cover of Promises’ ‘Baby, It’s You’ as produced by Brian Canham from Pseudo Echo. They brought the pop sounds and also helped the gender balance and raised it to 4 chicks on the stage for the day. Their set was over fast.
Then, the stage was reconfigured and a destruction proof microphone and stand were put in place as it was time for Mi-Sex. Due to touring commitments some of Mi-Sex’s band members were on duty elsewhere but the amazing musicians: bassist Dario Bortolin, purple booted guitarist Jak Housden, keyboardist Colin Coorie and the very fit and fabulous drummer Jordan McDonald joined front man and vocalist Steve Balbi and the genius on keyboards and synth Murray Burns.
Mi-Sex have just come off a long tour celebrating the 45th anniversary of their break-out album ‘Graffiti Crimes’. The band started their set with their unique rock synth sound of ‘Graffiti Crimes’ as Steve Balbi came out onto the stage and performed the song like poetry. Mi-Sex followed with their outstanding songs ‘Falling In And Out’ and the powerful ‘But You Don’t Care’.
Mi-Sex – Party on the Point – photos by Bec Lee
Steve Balbi performed acrobatics, jumped off speakers, the drumkit rise, spun the microphone stand and travelled around with it, berated the crowd about the state of origin, noticed the amount of weed being smoked, and just poured so much energy into the set as the band delivered the fantastic music. The song which wasn’t a hit, but should be a hit (the crowd agreed) was ‘Mi-Sex, Your Sex’ and it was fun. After, that ‘Blue Day’ was delivered beautifully.
Mi-Sex as a band were tight. They played newer songs and the back catalogue of their hits is substantial: ‘Computer Games’, ‘People’ ‘Castaway’, ‘Making Love On The Telephone’ got the crowd rockin’ and the band let people know that they loved keeping the flame of this music alive.
Then, if it couldn’t get better, it did! Chocolate Starfish performed next and they are an in-your-face band on steroids!
I wasn’t unsure what to expect as Chocolate Starfish are in the middle of touring their extraordinary show of ‘Bat Out Of Hell – The Return’. And, if you want to see one of the best gigs of the year – get to it if you can. The Tivoli is sold out, but look for a gig. Would they perform “The Bat” or their own songs? They did both!
The band decked out in white took to the stage: guitarist Zakk Zedras, bassist John Nixon, keyboardist and piano man Norm Falvo and drummer Darren Danielson took to the stage. Zakk Zedras struck that first chord of the song ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ and Sandstone Point started to boil. Adam Thompson came out onto the stage dressed as a bat in a black shiny suit decked out with black and red feathers and they performed the whole 8-minute song. The crowd loved it!
Chocolate Starfish – Party on the Point – photos by Bec Lee
Then, as a band, Chocolate Starfish delivered their own songs ‘The Beautiful Addiction’, the wonderful ‘Mountain’, their classic “pub song” as Adam Thompson described ‘Four Letter Word’ with its chorus that any drunk can sing. And, a huge ‘Happy Birthday’ song to Sandstone Point came next.
Then, the tone of the set changed and Chocolate Starfish went mash-up crazy as they performed most of Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’ as they weaved in a diverse range of songs from Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ about the man Adam Thompson shot at Burpengary, to ‘She’ll Be Comin Round The Mountain, and Kenny Rogers’ ‘The Gambler’ as Adam Thompson launched himself into the crowd to finish the last verse of ‘You’re So Vain’. The crowd at the front of the venue were going nuts. And, they closed out the set with a huge cover of 4 Non-Blonde’s ‘What’s Up’, the crowd were singing along at full volume – and it was full volume “the biggest sing along at Sandstone” until The Angels’ set.
The Angels delivered classic rock and straight up. And, I think ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’ with its famous chant of “No way, Get f@*%$d, F@*k off!” which made John Brewster snigger beat out everybody else for the biggest sing along moment of the day.
John and Rick Brewster are the heart and soul of The Angels. They were strongly supported by bassist SamBrewster, drummer Tom Brewster and front man and vocalist Nick Norton. The Angels delivered raw and electrifying guitar. John Brewster’s complex guitar riffs, paired with Rick Brewster’s solid rhythm, create an intense dynamic that has inspired countless fans and musicians across the decades in Australian music. Their brotherly bond has kept The Angels’ spirit alive in their music, creating some of the most iconic songs in Australian rock history.
The Angels – Party on the Point – photos by Bec Lee
Sensing The Angels’ sense of humour, as they watched the rain came down, they kicked off with their classic song ‘After the Rain’. Funny! Then, they delivered ‘No Secrets’ and ‘Shadow Boxer’ and everyone was reminded why The Angels have endured for five decades as one of Australia’s best live bands.
The Angels delivered all the classics like‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’, ‘Down On Me’, ‘Face The Day’ and new song in ‘99’ that rocks with get-up-and-go from their latest album released in 2024. There was little break or punctuation as the band maintained a high-octane energy that peaked with the best songs of the night ‘Take A Long Line’ and the wonderful ‘Marseilles’ which was performed with Rick Brewster’s classic guitar solo embedded in it.The Angels still have that raw and urgent tone. These are songs that resonate immediately in a live setting—brooding and punchy, giving the Brewster brothers plenty of room to stretch out their signature guitar sounds.
The rain had set in as James Reyne and his remarkable band: guitarists Brett Kingman and Josh Owen, bassist Andy McIvor, drummer John Watson, keyboardist Sean Johnson, and backing singers Melinda Jackson and Nicky Kurta delivered a mixed set of Australian Crawl classics, James Reyne solo classics and new songs. And, it was no chat, and straight into business with ‘Boys Light Up’.
James Reine – Party on the Point – photos by Bec Lee
James Reyne and his band sounded fresh and looked great through the haze of the rain. James Reyne delivered a new rock song ‘Going Back To Nashville’ that was all party vibes. Sandstone Point was a party night, so the songs from all James Reyne’s musical eras were played from 2015’s ‘What A Pain In The Arse It Is’ to ‘Beautiful People’ Australian Crawls’ first ever single from 1979. He concentrated on delivering crowd favourites, like Australian Crawl songs, ‘Downhearted’, ‘Oh No Not You Again’, ‘Reckless (Don’t Be So…)’ and ‘Errol’. But, the set highlights were James Reyne’s solo material, like ‘Hammerhead’ and ‘Fall Of Rome’ that shone.
James Reyne and his band delivered a great set that ended too soon. They said goodnight, left the stage. The next thing was a dinosaur back drop was put into place for the last band of the day: Hoodoo Gurus.
The rain was coming in heavy. And, how do you top off all the other bands’ amazing performances throughout the day? Well, you explode onto the stage in a wall of sound and light.
Hoodoo Gurus, took to the stage with zero introduction, and blasted away: Dave Faulkner on guitar and vocals,Brad Shepherd on guitar, harmonica, vocals, Rick Grossman on bass and backing vocals, and Nik Rieth on drums. They created a huge noise and then they turned it straight into ‘I Want You Back’.
Hoodoo Gurus – Party on the Point – photos by Bec Lee
The Hoodoo Gurus wereon from the first note and there was no slack in the musical delivery. The harmonies were landed, the rhythm section was locked into place, and the band played with meticulousness care. The crowd could tell the thousands of hours they had spent playing together as a band. This was demonstrated in the Hoodoo Gurus setlist of songs that they wanted to play.
Hoodoo Gurus interspersed newer songs with popular crowd favourites. They delivered ‘Another World’, ‘Out That Door’ and then the fabulous surf stomp of ‘Tojo’. Then, Hoodoo Gurus backed in songs like ‘Chariot of the Gods’, the massively popular ‘My Girl’ and the best rockin’ song from Mars Needs Guitars’‘Poison Pen’. That album is celebrating its 40th birthday this year.
Then, as Dave Faulkner put it, this last part of the set is all “ice cream and chocolate, but the right kind of chocolate”. The Hoodoo Gurus hit the crowd with ‘I Come From Your Future’, ‘Come Anytime’ and ‘The Right Time’. Then, the topping was sprinkled on the ice cream with the heavenly ‘Bittersweet’, “a song for the ladies” in ‘Miss Freelove ’69’ and the fan favourite sung at huge volume ‘1000 Miles Away’. And, as the last chord faded away the band wished us all a good night.
But there were still so many songs they hadn’t played: the band came quickly back out on stage as it was so wet. The encore was fantastic as ‘Be My Guru’ was played. Then, the chords for ‘What’s My Scene’ rang out as Brad Shepherd and his beautiful guitar playing skills sounded out around the venue. Then, the Hoodoo Gurus let Nik Rieth loose with his five-stroke drum beat intro for ‘Like Wow, Wipeout’ and that ended their set, Sandstone Points Hotel’s birthday bash ‘Party On The Point’ was over. The crowd filtered out through the rain, the mud and into the dark searching for their cars. All the bands had put on wonderful sets based around their classic Australian rock songs. It was an astounding day and night filled with music.
