Desert festival explodes as 11,000 partygoers go wild

An iconic case of Mums Gone Wild preceded chaotic scenes at the Big Red Bash music festival, including a massive dance-off in the Simpson Desert. James Weir recaps.

A legendary case of Mums Gone Wild preceded chaotic scenes at the Big Red Bash music festival in the Simpson Desert where iconic Aussie rock band Chocolate Starfish caused a stampede that ended with 11,000 punters scream-singing the lyrics to the 4 Non Blondes’ one-hit-wonder classic What’s Up?

It was day two of the 72-hour event and outback mania had kicked in. But just because you’re in the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean you have to let your looks fall by the wayside. The morning’s drag race competition – that requires punters to dress up and run down the word’s biggest sand dune to raise $25,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service – is proof of this.

The fashion stakes were competitive. The styles? Bold and eclectic. Trend forecasters predict we’ll be seeing many of the looks on international runways in Paris and Milan.

Bold. Eclectic. Picture: Matt Williams.

It’s called fashion. Look it up. Picture: Matt Williams.

Picture: Matt Williams.

Icons. Picture: Matt Williams.

Just your average day in the outback. Picture: Matt Williams.

RELATED: James Weir recaps day 1 of the Big Red Bash

By high noon, most campers started scoring their spots surrounding the stage. Towards the front of the crowd, only one group stood out: a group of mums in hi-vis drinking some kind of makeshift cocktail concoction involving chunks of fruit in a plastic container.

“We were running out of alcohol and we found sh*t loads of red wine and wondered what we’d do with it,” Chanel said.

“So we combined all of our stock from around the campsites,” Bree added. “And, together, we’ve been able to make sangria. We’ve found red wine and we’ve found cans of double lemon vodkas.”

“Then we sacrificed our last apple – so, the kids couldn’t eat but we could have sangria,” Heather added. “We also took the kids’ Sprite, as well.”

“We chucked it all in a jug and hoped for the best.”

A unique magic skill seemingly possessed by all mums is the ability to rustle up dinner in a pinch with whatever scraps are left at the bottom of the vegetable crisper. It works for an easy midweek quiche. And it’s a skill that’s transferable to midweek music festivals in the desert.

“You know goon? Put it through a soda stream and it turns into fancy prosecco,” another reveller later shared.

The Sangria Mums trekked from Ballarat.

So, with no fruit to eat and no Sprite to drink, the eight kids of The Sangria Mums were left to find a solution. It resulted in a scheme that can only be described as enterprising.

“We were just crushin’ cans over at a bin and this lady walked up and said, ‘Do you wanna crush these cans?’ So we did. And then Sam went over and got three dollars off her,” Ash said.

“So we thought, because we have a wagon, we’d go around asking people for money to crush their cans,” Jimmy added.

In one afternoon, they made $75. And like all great entrepreneurs, they recognised the demand for their services and quickly raised the price.

“Some people gave us $20,” Sam said.

The biggest nutbush in the world was completed at the festival.

Word got around and customers immediately started saving up their cans to be disposed of by Birdsville’s most thriving new business venture, The Crushers.

Fellow crusher Campbell predicted Thursday’s earnings would reach $200. Sounds bold, but their secret weapon is the youngest crusher, Little Ted.

“We sent him in first because he’s cuter and he can get more money.”

The Crushers: We crush for cash.

Speaking of getting crushed, that’s almost what happened when iconic Aussie rockers Chocolate Starfish took to the stage as the sun set over the desert. The band’s rendition of Carly Simon’s 1972 hit You’re So Vain resulted in an acapella call-and-response that not even the burliest of farmers in the mosh pit could resist participating in.

Lead singer Adam Thompson, adorned with feathered wings, worked the stage in a pair of metallic thigh-high boots that he’d stolen off a drag queen in New York City.

“While she was on stage singing I Will Survive, I pinched ‘em,” he shared with the crowd before summoning all the nerds sitting down behind the mosh pit to get on their feet and rush the stage for the final song.

“Take a drink of your booze – get it into ya!”

That’s when the strum of an A-major chord jangled through the speakers before dropping into the unmistakable intro to the 4 Non Blondes’ one-hit-wonder classic What’s Up?

The atmosphere was electric as 11,000 punters sang one of the most-heard choruses of the ‘90s: “And I say, heyyy-ey-ey-ey-ey! Heyyy-ey-ey! I said hey! What’s goin’ on!”

As the song built with the crowd’s passion, a giant plush dog started crowd surfing over the thousands of bodies in the mosh.

Aussie rockers Chocolate Starfish took to the stage. Picture: Picture: Matt Williams.

Massive crowd during Chocolate Starfish. Picture: Matt Williams.

11,000 punters scream-singing the lyrics to the 4 Non Blondes’ one-hit-wonder classic What’s Up? Picture: news.com.au.

Big Red Bash festival goers picture on one of many red sand hills at the event near Birdsville. Picture: Matt Williams

Some of the previous outfits at the Big Red Bash light up the desert, such as this duo in 2018.

The moment of musical history being made in the Australian Outback was so powerful that it actually healed an injured man in the crowd. As the song ended to rapturous applause, he stood up straight all by himself and madly waved his crutches in the air.

Jimmy Barnes now has a lot to live up to when he hits the stage to close out the festival tonight. At the very least, he’d better have a fun anecdote to share about stealing a drag queen’s thigh-high boots.

Twitter, Facebook: @hellojamesweir