The AFL has long been criticised for the lacklustre quality of their Grand Final entertainment, with many complaining that the league omits homegrown acts in favour of international acts or entertainers well past their prime.
After Ellie Goulding, Bryan Adams, and Chris Isaak were announced for last year’s Grand Final entertainment, Music Victoria called the lineup “disappointing” and criticised the lack of homegrown acts.
Many readers will remember the disastrous appearances made by the likes of Meat Loaf, who later blamed a throat condition for his out-of-tune performance, and Angry Anderson, who gave arguably the most infamous Grand Final performance of all time.
After this year’s Super Bowl halftime show featuring Coldplay, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, and Mark Ronson but mostly Beyonce, many AFL fans urged the league to pay attention to the performance and take notes, which the organisation allegedly did.
But quite frankly, Adelaide’s official AFL Grand Final party, which is set to go down at Botanic Park on Saturday, 1st October with a lineup of Jimmy Barnes, The Angels, and Jon Stevens, should be this year’s Grand Final pre-game entertainment.
We already know Barnesy knows how to handle Grand Final entertainment. The general consensus last year was that Cold Chisel’s appearance at the NRL Grand Final put the AFL’s shaky Ellie Goulding performance to shame.
Granted, Barnesy and co had the advantage of appearing under cover of nightfall when there’s more of an atmosphere and an actual audience to perform to, but the band’s (totally live) performance is really what brought it home.
So why is this lineup appearing at a “party” in Adelaide and not during the Grand Final?
