Cooly to rock on with blast from past

Bob Anthony, Sun Community Newspapers   |  12:01am April 14, 2013

20130414-ready-to-rock-n-roll-140413Cooly Rocks On is coming to Coolangatta and festival chairperson Gail O’Neill and CEO Bob Newman are revved up for the event.

BREAK out the boardies and wax up the malibu because Cooly Rocks On is hitting the beach in more ways than one this year.

The annual nostalgia festival at Coolangatta will incorporate a new “surf precinct” this year and to keep the crowds on their toes, Aussie surf band, The Atlantics, will be taking a trip down memory lane reviving music of the era.

The precinct, to be set up at the Gold Coast’s spiritual home of surfing – Kirra – will feature surfing memorabilia from the ’50s and ’60s, retro markets featuring surf wear and a range of classic surf vehicles such as Kombis, station wagons, panel vans and woodies.

Cooly Rocks On CEO Bob Newman said the action wouldn’t just be confined to the beach with an old malibu surfing competition. In July 1963, The Atlantics released their most famous track, Bombora, its name also derived from an unusual and widely unrecognised source – an Aboriginal term for large waves breaking over submerged rock shelves.

The Atlantics will play the Cooly Rocks On Kirra stage on Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, along with a lineup of bands including The Shallows and Bridge and Brady.

Cooly Rocks On chairperson Gail O’Neill said this year shaped up to be the biggest festival yet with interest at an all-time high.

Ms O’Neill said the 1200 classic car and hotrod places had been filled with a strong demand for accommodation thanks to a big entertainment line-up.

“The festival is growing in strength and size each year and all we need is some fine weather and we will see all records broken this year,” she said.

Cooly Rocks On runs from May 31 to June 10. For details, go to www.coolyrockson.com

Read the original article: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2013/04/14/450274_gold-coast-news.html

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