‘Worse than Meat Loaf’: AFLW grand final pre-game disaster as Peking Duk bomb

The AFLW got ARIA award-winning artist Keli Holiday and his band Peking Duk to hype fans up but it couldn’t have gone much worse.

Peking Duk’s pre-game act at the AFLW grand final has quickly turned into a nightmare, with fans in the stadium turning to their phones for entertainment and those at home turning off their TVs.

Ahead of the AFLW decider between North Melbourne and Brisbane, duo Keli Holiday (real name Adam Hyde) and Reuben Styles were full of energy, but the performance left a lot to be desired.

The pair’s act was much-hyped, but fans were quick to voice their disappointment at what was wheeled out on Saturday night.

Kicking off the pre-match entertainment, Holiday performed his hit solo song Dancing 2.

He then stepped back to join Styles as Peking Duk behind the DJ deck, with Ben Woolner joining the duo to sing Take Me Over and Say My Name.

Melbourne-based artist KYE, then came up on stage to sing Peking Duk’s unreleased track, Thrills.

To finish the set, the duo were joined by vocalist Lucy Lucy, who has toured for Peking Duck for close to a decade.

You can watch them perform their new song in the player above.

Peking Duk were not good.

But safe to say fans weren’t impressed, with crowd shots at several points during the performance showing the majority of fans in the stadium on their phones and completely disinterested.

While those watching from home were left saying the same thing.

 “Surely the two AFL women’s teams and their supporters competing in a Grand Final deserve better than this rubbish. This may have eclipsed Meat Loaf as the worst pre-match ‘entertainment’,” Adrian Di Prato wrote on X.

“Now they are bringing up their friends to perform. Seriously, it’s not a garage party in North Fitzroy.”

Peking Duk perform at the AFLW Grand Final. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

“Well, let’s hope the game is better than this Peking duk performance … #AFLWGF,” a second added.

“Peking Duk really suck. Bring on the footy,” a third wrote.

 “Trying not to hate on the AFLW grand final musical act but f*** this is s*** music. My poor ears,” another added.

“I really want to like this, I just don’t,” a fifth commented.

While others said “I had to turn off my TV” and “the AFLW have managed to get to a new low, absolute rubbish!”.

It was not the reaction Holiday and Styles were hoping for, with the duo expressing his excitement at getting to perform at the AFLW grand final earlier this week.

“To get the call-up and have the chance to play at the NAB AFLW Grand Final is a huge honour for us and to be offered the chance to play at one of the fastest growing leagues in the world, and not just during the season but at the Grand Final is an extremely exciting opportunity,” Styles said.

“We are going to put everything we can into this.”

And they are sure to feel pretty rough after being compared to Meat Loaf’s notorious performance at the 2011 AFL Grand Final, which was widely criticised for being off-key.

His performance became memorable for all the wrong reasons as the ageing rocker bombed on stage, struggling to belt out hits including Bat out of Hell and I Would Do Anything For Love.

It has since become a performance mentioned each time a pre-game act falls flat.

But while the pre-game entertainment fizzled out on the field, fans were captivated from the first bounce, with fans loving every second.

“Girls go in harder than the blokes!!!! Great opening AFLW,” Grant Thomas wrote on X.

“How good is this. Go the girls!” another added.

Originally published as ‘Worse than Meat Loaf’: AFLW grand final pre-game disaster as Peking Duk bomb