Horsham rocks...

Horsham had a powerful reminder of its history as a major venue for outdoor rock concerts when people gathered at Horsham Soundshell at Sawyer Park at the weekend.

The park came to life on Saturday as a crowd of more than 800 responded to some of the stars and legends of the Australian rock industry.

The event, from 3pm to 11pm, grew in intensity throughout the afternoon, starting with Horsham act Simon Skurrie and then Paul Costa.

The Chantoozies captured the building crowd’s attention, leading the way for powerful performances from Reece Mastin, The Choirboys and Shannon Noll.

Talented Mastin unleashed a mighty and aggressively clever set that took many by surprise before The Choirboys, led by Australian rock legend Mark Gable, showed why they were renowned as one of the biggest guitar bands of the 1980s.

The crowd was primed for the appearance of Shannon Noll who didn’t disappoint and in one of the highlights of the concert performed The Choirboys’ Run to Paradise with Gable.

Noll told the crowd that when he was listening to the song as a youngster driving a tractor in Condobolin that he never dreamt he would have such an opportunity.

Despite the delight of rock-music fans that ventured to the event and a positive response from most patrons, there is no guarantee it will return next year.

Promoter David Storer from Mildura Entertainment said running major music concerts, based on costs and work involved, was always an unknown.

“The Horsham event reinforced a belief that there’s a strong place for major live music events in country areas,” he said.

“The key is that more people must embrace these events.

“Everyone walked away happy, but while we all had a great time and there were good numbers, there was plenty of room for more. An even larger crowd would have made the event bigger and better for everyone.

“At this stage I can’t guarantee we will return. We’ll assess circumstances in the New Year.”

The Weekly Advertiser, 3WM and MIXX FM and Harvey Norman Horsham were major sponsors of the festival and other businesses also provided support.

ROCK ON: Pictured clockwise from above; The Weekly Advertiser, 3WM and MIXX FM general manager Brendan O’loughlin, left, with Paul Costa, Adrian Galvin and Steve Olver; The Choirboys lead singer and Australian rock legend Mark Gable; a Sawyer Park crowd soaks up the atmosphere; Johanna Clark and Kirilee Rowe enjoy themselves; and The Choirboys bass guitarist Ian Hulme.