RocKwiz Live Salutes The ARIA Hall Of Fame

Into its 13th season, RocKwiz has become a staple of Saturday night viewing for the mature music buff and poor homebody alike with its pub-style music trivia. The live version has been doing the rounds around Australia for several years and judging by the turn-out on this night still seems to be going strong.

As with the recorded version, punters from the audience were given 'wildcards' to try their hand at becoming a contestant on the show. This reviewer, wildcard in hand, ventured backstage to try his luck with some decidedly more experienced (aka older) challengers.

For the record, there are some major Australian music nerds out there, and having crashed and burned and punted back to my seat, I could sit back and marvel at the music brainiacs answering questions with abandon, tonight based around the ARIA Hall of Famers — 74 of them (Rolf has been booted!).

The surprise guests make this show great. Vika & Linda Bull kicked off proceedings with a pumping version of Johnny O'Keefe's Wild One and from there we were treated to Kate Miller-Heidke's version of Hey Little Girl and ARIA Hall of Famer Brian Cadd playing his classic Ginger Man.

The mix of young and old is broadens the appeal of the format and it is all held together by the endearing charm of its hosts, Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis. After ten years on the show, they seamlessly drove the event forward with barely a second to rest between guessing riffs, belting out karaoke, and musical interludes from the tight as ever RocKwiz band.

Davey Lane performed a stirring tribute to the late Jim Keays with Because I Love You and a rousing reception was given to Col Joye, particularly by the older members of the crowd, as he gave us Bye Bye Baby.

The winner is Australian music as everyone left with fresh, albeit useless, knowledge and a warm fuzzy home-grown feeling after the show finished with an all-star rendition of Shout.