Rebels MC Mackay Custom Bike & Car Show

THE SKIES were dark and rain had fallen in the district. Despite the inclement weather, around 50 motorbikes and 15 cars turned out to exhibit, and while slightly down on last year’s total, the quality was top notch. The judges would have had a hard time picking the winner in each category.

There were vendors selling T-shirts and biker jewellery, and the crew from Big Bear had some of their bikes on display along with S&S polishing.

Malibu and her girls from Delicious Entertainment sold plenty of raffle tickets with the proceeds going to the breast cancer fund. There wasn’t a biker in the place who didn’t reach into his pocket to help such a worthwhile cause.

Little Mick was on hand to weave his magic over tanks and helmets. He even painted a surfboard and his skill with the airbrush never ceases to amaze.

Something really unique this year was the Townsville Chapter organised a poker run to the Mackay show and about 60 people turned up late in the afternoon for a rocking good time. Many poker runs seem to be too short and everyone thought the 400 km poker run was a terrific idea. Takes about the same time as a normal poker run but there’s plenty of distance for those who enjoy the open road.

The clubhouse was packed for the presentation which was held around 6 pm. The chips, steak burgers, hot dogs and chips were fresh and the drinks were reasonably priced compared to pubs and night clubs. The low-profit prices would have gone a long way to retaining the big crowd which stayed until the early hours of Sunday morning. In fact, I’ve never seen so many people in the clubhouse enjoying themselves at 2 am in the morning. One of the club members said they had to call their drink supplier four times during the event to restock the bar.

One of the reasons why the place was packed was two bands kept the party rocking all night with fantastic live music. Camera Shy, a husband and wife team, did an outstanding job belting out biker favourites all afternoon and into the night. Keith and Sue Smith are a really talented pair and Keith can really wail on his Fender Strat.

Then Homebrew cranked their amps up. We were shooting Kelly’s pool with a large group that had never heard Homebrew play before. It was interesting to watch the body language. It went from sort of crossed arms, show-us-what-you-can-do to Jeez-these-bastards-can-play with their feet, heads and legs moving uncontrollably to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Cream, AC/DC, Angels, Black Sabbath, Joe Satriani, ZZ Top, Santana, etc. If you liked country, rap or disco then this was definitely not the place to be. It was hard core rock and blues that made your ears ring. By the end of the night, Homebrew had earned the respect of everyone who’d never heard them play before. They rocked and the large crowd went off!

The Rebels MC Custom Car & Bike Show didn’t just happen by waving a magic wand. There’s a lot of hard work in organising events like this that generally goes un-noticed. Bands had to be booked, trophies made, food for the masses brought in, fridges packed with drinks, people lined up to cook, advertising put into newspapers, flyers printed and put up around the district, tables cleaned, floors swept, glasses washed, lawns mowed, stall vendors contacted, toilets cleaned, etc. Most of the members spent a large part of Friday erecting marquees and tents and one member was painting the bases of the bar tables black at 1:30 am on Saturday morning. It was a big team effort.

While the Rebels don’t normally go around publicising what they do for charity, the event raised $2000—$3000 which will be donated to the Base Hospital Emergency Department.

During the game of pool, it was getting hard to remember whose turn it was or where the glass of rum and coke was, but something that still echoes from the night was the statement: “It doesn’t get much better.” There were beautiful bikes, tough cars, hot women, cold beer, live music and good company. It honestly couldn’t have been any better!

words & pics by SS