Sell-out crowd at Bitter and Twisted survives heat

The weather forecast delivered its promised 37-degree heat on the Saturday of Bitter and Twisted.

But a sold-out crowd of beer and music lovers was not going to let a ­little heatwave weigh on their festivities.

Punters huddled in the shifting shade of Maitland Gaol’s historic architecture or queued in an orderly fashion to be sprayed by industrial fans that ejected icy water particles.

This was a refreshing addition.

While rock group The Beards were the headline act, the real highlight of Saturday’s artist line-up was power-pop powerhouse Eagle and the Worm, whose feel-good vibes reverberated sweetly off the Gaol’s walls.

And the liquor did not disappoint, with the Hunter’s brewers providing the stand-out beers.

Hunter Beer Co., Hope Brewhouse, Morpeth Brewery and Beer Co. and Lovedale Brewery all had superb beers on offer.

And it wouldn’t have been a Bitter and Twisted festival without a few “Gangos”, an even mixer of Broome’s Matso Brewery’s ginger and mango beers.

The Pourhouse Wing was a great addition, offering up the likes of the Northern Beaches brewer Modus Operandi’s delicious Kite Flyer Cream Ale. 

Review by Clare Jordan-Wills

While initially the Sunday crowd  seemed to be a more subdued and family-oriented version of the energised Saturday gathering, the climactic performance of Jebediah in the afternoon sun proved an absolute highlight of the weekend.

Whether it was the savvy beer ­connoisseurs using the last of their tokens or the retrospective music lovers keen to bring the afternoon to a satisfying close, Jebediah brought in the punters in spades. 

Opening with Jerks of Attention, vocalist Kevin Mitchell drew a standing crowd back to the normally seated inner sanctum of the Maitland Gaol grounds. 

It was clear that ’90s fans of the band would not be let down when the band gave Animal the frenetic energy it deserved, third song in.

Despite Kevin’s assertions that their set list comprised of hits and memories, and that the memories were mostly the band’s, this writer was not alone in enjoying a flood of top-shelf ’90s memories.

Songs such as Feet Touch the Ground and Teflon were an encore conclusion to an awesome local festival.

Well done Jebediah and well done Maitland.