Hawkapalooza: 90s Hawkesbury bands rock Archibald in new festival

Called Hawkapalooza, "A Celebration of Hawkesbury Bands of the 90's, the Reunited and the Still Going Strong", the festival featured seven bands and 19 musicians in what organisers said was "the best night of live music in 20 years".

Hawkapalooza kicked-off at 4pm on Saturday, November 12 and the music-playing continued for the next eight hours.

Some of the bands reunited to play for the first time together in 25 to 30 years, and two of the bands still play regularly after forming more than 30 years ago.

The reunited bands included Jargon, Hamster, Sevenda, Jettison and MYLK, and the local legends Crapulous Gee Gaw and Lizard, playing a mixture of hard rock, blues, funk, grunge and punk music.

Co-organiser and bass player for both Jettison and MYLK, Zane Beck, said the festival drew a far bigger crowd than anyone expected, with punters travelling from as far as Newcastle and Mudgee to see the show.

"We were hoping for around 200 people, but the venue owner estimated that over the course of the afternoon and evening around 300 music punters passed through," Mr Beck said.

"The atmosphere was just electric all night. It was so inspiring to have not just friends, family and fans from back in the day turn up, but second generation fans too. Kids who grew up listening to their parents' CDs of our music."

Mr Beck said the chemistry between the four members of Jettison "is as strong today as it was in 1991-1993."

"Playing together again was such a surreal experience for all of us. Like no time had passed at all. The other bands feel the same way," he said.

When Mr Beck was a student at Hawkesbury and then Colo High in the nineties, the Hawkesbury had a "thriving music scene". Today, he lives in Melbourne and runs a gig promo business called Tonight's Gigs.

He said the bands that played at Hawkapalooza were "the soundtrack to our lives" back in the nineties.

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Sadly, in the lead up to the event, Justin King, drummer of Sevenda, passed away during rehearsals, which devastated his family and his bandmates. The organisers considered cancelling the event but decided to go ahead as "a tribute to Justin King".

His bandmates Morgan Philpott and Matt Scott performed a reworked Sevenda song dedicated to Justin, followed by the sharing of recorded music from Justin's various musical projects.

"Justin's presence was very much felt," Mr Beck said.