Australian country music legend Lee Kernaghan has fond memories of gigs past at Geelong’s Costa Hall, a venue he describes as “dear to my heart”.
One anecdote in particular serves as the perfect example of why he enjoys visiting Geelong.
“Many years ago I was midway through the show at Costa Hall when the fire alarm went off,” he said.
“We had to evacuate the whole show midway through the gig. But it was a false alarm and everybody piled back in, the show just kicked back in and the party resumed like nothing had happened.
“So I’ve got a great love and respect for the Geelong country crowd. And I’ve got to say, there’s always a fine array of utes and four-wheel drives in the car park at my concerts in Victoria.”
The story is also a metaphorical parallel for Kernaghan’s views on the COVID-19 pandemic and his hopes for the music industry in the future.
“(The pandemic affected us) pretty severely; it shut down the music industry for pretty well two years,” he said.
“We couldn’t travel, we couldn’t tour, so it was a very, very hard time. And I think a lot of people are still recovering from it.
“I hope as a country and as a society we never have to go through that again.”
Kernaghan has been doing his bit to aid that recovery. In addition to regular touring around the country and the world, he has launched an app called Starkix, which connects fans to their favourite sports and entertainment celebrities.
The app has also served as a platform for fundraising drives for organisations such as LifeLine and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Kernaghan said his upcoming concert in Geelong would be “30 years of country wrapped up in one big show”.
“My career kicked off in the 90s… there’s just so much music there,” he said.
“Nearly every album I’ve released has been like another chapter in my life, my story, and I’m working on a new one right now.
“So I’m very excited to be able to bring a show of this sort of magnitude to town.”
Lee Kernaghan is at Costa Hall on Saturday, July 6. Visit leekernaghan.com for tickets and more information.
