Few people who see regular music at The Airlie Beach Hotel would say they have never heard of Dellacoma Rio, who makes frequent standout performances from the elevated bar top stage.
Renowned for his incredible ‘stage’manship, Dellacoma Rio has been known to race into the crowd, run down the street and also sing while hanging upside down in a tree!
His performances have created such an impact that he is a regular feature on The Pub’s event calendar, playing to several packed-out crowds every year.
Dellacoma has become a much-loved feature and is synonymous with the good times at The Pub, so much so that he has developed a huge fan base in Airlie Beach and considers the town a second home.
The crowds love his genuine passion and the fact that he regularly hangs out after the show and chats with anyone who wants to say hi.
“I’ve performed in towns all over the world and you can never tell where you’re going to take off,” said Dellacoma.
“But Airlie Beach is one of those places for me. This is the only hotel we ever perform at, the rest are convention centres and concert halls, but I love the crowd and the atmosphere which is why we keep coming back.”
Dellacoma was born in the US, but he grew up in Tasmania from the age of two before attending University in Los Angeles.
During his time in the States, he spent six years performing live theatre and also featured in some well-known TV shows before coming back to Australia and once again reuniting with his musical routes.
In 2014 he launched his solo rock band career, releasing his first album ‘Dead Will Rise’.
Earlier this year he released another album entitled ‘Blood’.
To most Whitsunday fans, however, Dellacoma Rio is best known as the front man of INXS Revived and the Bon Jovi tribute show.
“My passion is live music,” he said.
“I always give more energy than I have in every show – the crowd can expect high-energy, high-passion – I always say that you can capture moments in live music – during a show you can create something special that can never happen again, share an experience that only happens in that moment.”
In August, Dellacoma will be performing as INXS frontman Michael Hutchence in a ‘sing-off’ with an AC/DC tribute singer Adam Sprizzo to create a Versus Day.
He will also be a big part of the Rock Legends Theatre Show on August 5 and 6 over the Great Barrier Reef Festival Weekend and again on the Airlie Beach Festival of Music weekend, November 11 and 12.
The Rock Legends Show will recreate the primal, heart pumping tunes and theatrical antics of heavy rock classics from monsters of the genre like Guns n Roses, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Kiss, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne and more.
Dellacoma Rio will perform alongside other powerhouses like Tara Graham, and Shaleena Bain, to create an absolute killer live rock band.
WHAT: Rock Legends Theatre Show
WHERE: Airlie Beach Hotel
WHEN: August 5 and 6 and November 11 and 12
WHAT: INXS vs ACDC
WHERE: Airlie Beach Hotel
WHEN: June 3 and 4 August 26 and 27
Photo credit: VAMPP Photography
