★★★★½
There are festival openings, and then there are festival openings that make you wonder whether the roof of the Augathella Spiegeltent has its own insurance policy. Highway to Hell: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus, which opened the 7th annual Wynnum Fringe Festival last night, belongs firmly in the second category.
Produced and directed by Matilda Award winner Tom Oliver alongside co-director Andrew Cory, this isn’t your standard circus cabaret. It’s louder, sweatier, and rougher around the edges in all the right ways. And it’s genuinely unlike anything I’ve seen roll into Wynnum before.
Imagine an old Australian country rock pub. The kind where XXXX is flowing, the carpet has seen things, and someone’s uncle is two beers away from requesting Khe Sanh. Now throw in world-class circus, powerhouse vocals, fire, aerials, contortion and a band that sounds like it’s trying to wake up half of Brisbane. That’s the vibe.
At the centre of it all are Wes Carr and Mahalia Barnes, and what a pair to lead the chaos. Carr, best known as the Season Six winner of Australian Idol back in ’08, brings that rock front-man energy that feels completely at home in this setting.
Barnes, an idol in her own right of Australian soul, blues and rock music, as well as stints in TV and musical theatre, is similarly a vocal weapon. Put them together and the tempo of the night is well and truly in safe hands, taking the audience from pub-rock singalong to full-blown rock concert without ever letting the energy dip.
Backed by Matty Smith and Mick Skelton of Thirsty Merc, Ben Rodgers from the Jimmy Barnes Band and Andrea Krakovska of Pseudo Echo, the music absolutely rips. I’m genuinely surprised the Augathella Spiegeltent didn’t lift off and land somewhere near Manly Harbour. Every anthem hits hard, every guitar line screams, and the whole thing has the kind of live-wire energy you can’t fake.
Krakovska also delivers one of the night’s wildest moments, playing electric guitar while suspended upside down, because apparently playing upright is for cowards. It is ridiculous in the best possible way.
Circus-cabaret favourites Katrina Louise and Melon the Human give the show its true physical punch. Louise is extraordinary, moving through hair-hang aerials, fire twirling, fire swallowing and other feats that made my spine hurt just watching. With Aussie rock anthems blasting behind her, every act feels bigger, hotter and more dangerous.
Then there is Melon the Human, whose act sits somewhere between object manipulation, physical contortion and watching a man lose an argument with his own limbs. It’s weird, very funny, and has that classic Melon quality where you’re not always sure what’s happening, but you’re very glad you’re watching it. He has this wonderfully uncomfortable stage presence that feels completely his own, and it sits brilliantly in this space.
By the end, the tent was literally rocking, and I could feel the floor of the Augethella bouncing under foot.
Highway to Hell: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus is loud, proudly Australian, wonderfully unhinged and packed with talent from top to bottom. It’s the kind of show that grabs you by the collar, shoves a beer in your hand, and reminds you that circus does not have to be polished within an inch of its life to be spectacular.
Sometimes it just needs fire, guitars, sweat, and a room full of people having an absolute bloody ball.
Highway to Hell: The Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus runs to 28 June as part of Wynnum Fringe. Augathella Spiegeltent, 166 Bay Terrace, Wynnum QLD 4178.
Tickets are available here!
Website: https://wynnumfringe.com/highway-to-hell/
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/wynnumfringe/
Hero image by Jarrad Seng
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