Australian Crawl Legend Set To Visit Airlie Beach

It’s set to be a big weekend for live music lovers, with a touch of Australian rock history coming to the Airlie Beach Hotel.

Founding member of Australian Crawl, Bill McDonough, will make a special guest appearance with long-time tribute band Reckless, giving fans a rare chance to meet one of the original members behind some of Australia’s most iconic surf rock anthems.

Reckless, well-loved by Airlie Beach audiences for their high-energy shows, will perform two afternoon shows of classic Crawl hits with Bill joining them on stage for a Q&A session, book signing and meet-and-greet.

“I’ll be appearing on stage with Reckless, where the audience can ask questions and have a chat,” Bill said.

“I’ll have T-shirts and signed copies of my memoir Sons of Beaches available, and people can come up, meet me, and have a drink.”

Released in 2023, Sons of Beaches tells Bill’s story alongside his late brother, Guy, who was one of Australian Crawl’s leading songwriters and singers. The memoir lifts the lid on the band’s incredible rise to fame and the personal challenges that came with it.

“I wrote the story for a purpose. I wanted people to read and understand what really went on with my myself, my brother and Australian crawl,” said Bill.

“There’s been so much misinformation over the years, so I wrote the memoir to set the record straight.”

Although retired from performing Bill said he’s excited to reconnect with fans and share stories from the band’s glory days.

Bill said he did one of these Meet and Greet events in Melbourne and it went really well. He said when Mark from Airlie Beach Hotel contacted him to do another in Airlie Beach, he said yes and knew it would be fun.

During the band's time Bill wrote several of the group’s biggest hits, including Downhearted, Shut Down and Indisposed. Decades later, Australian Crawl’s music continues to find new audiences, with more than 35 million streams in the past year alone.

“Our music is the soundtrack to people’s youth, and it's also very synonymous with summer and surf culture,” he said.

And that surf culture runs deep for McDonough, who grew up with his bandmates by the water on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

“We were all very athletic and we were swimmers, footballers and athletes,” he added.

“We shared the same sort of surf culture background and we all had a passion for music as well, and that's why Australian Crawl, is called a surf rock band, because of our surf culture background.”

Now based part-time in Noosa, Bill said he’s looking forward to heading north for the Whitsundays shows.

“I love Queensland and I remember Airlie Beach from the good old days,” added Bill.

For fans, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet the original drummer from one of Australia’s most beloved bands.

So if you’re a Crawl fan, come along, say g’day, grab a drink and talk to an original Australian Crawl member about the good old days.

WHAT: Meet Bill McDonough
WHERE: The Pub, Airlie Beach Hotel
WHEN: Saturday October 18 and Sunday October 19 (2pm – 5.30pm)

Bill McDonough with Reckless lead singer Mark Sinni
Bill McDonough with his memoir 'Sons of Beaches'

Photos supplied

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