:: Australian music icons step forward for charity

By: Pictures Matt Deller and Adrian Ringin

Some of the country's most famous music performers stepped up to the mark in the aid of the devastating tsunami disaster. As the second day of the Melbourne International Music Festival unfolded, crowds flocked to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl to see the return of Daddy Cool, their first big performance in approximately 30 years. They were joined by other Aussie legends Billy Thorpe, Mike Rudd (Spectrum), Jimmy Barnes, and John Farnham.

Here is Adrian Ringin's account of the day.

Beautiful blue skies and warm sunlight greeted the second and final day of the festival, the Tsunami Benefit day, where artists performed for no fee, and the profits went to the children’s charity Plan.

It turned out to be excellent value for money. The organisers did a good job getting together some big Australian names for this gig, which got the punters in the door, particularly the baby boomers who don’t often get out to see live music - the crowd was estimated at 10,000.

The big names played in the Bowl, while lesser known groups occupied the smaller grass stage. In the Bowl, Taj Mahal performed some great old school blues numbers, Diesel performed a solo set, but included an outstanding duet of ‘I’m Just a Jealous Guy’ with Andrew Roachford on keyboard.

Michael Franti and Spearhead got freaky and free on stage, getting some of the best crowd response so far that day, working through mostly new material, with Franti running through the expensive seats to the lawn area to bond with the crowd at one point. He also got young guitarist Keiran Murphy up on stage to jam for a bit, and later on had Joel Turner up to do some beatboxing. Although skilled, Turner is not of the same standard as Radioactive, who was previously the beatboxer for Spearhead, and whose departure has left a real gap in the band’s line-up.

Before the anti-war song ‘Yell Fire’ Franti gave a little speech mourning Tsunami victims but calling in the crowd to not forget the similar amount of deaths that have taken place as a result of the invasion of Iraq. Although this was understandable, advocating empathy for all victims, it also flew rather close to using the Tsunami tragedy for unrelated political purposes.

As afternoon turned to night, the stage was occupied by a string of golden oldies - but there was more on offer this day than popular acts from decades past. Over at the lawn stage, there were many smaller acts well worth checking out.

Bomba played some good reggae early on in the afternoon, parading out into the crowd to play their drums at one point. The Dili Allstars turned in a nice set as well - their standout number was probably the Painters and Dockers song ‘Advance Australia Where’, a catchy song that combines the Australian national anthem, George Orwell, Australian imagery, and left-wing sloganeering to great effect.

At one point Paul Stewart (who sings in both Painters and Dockers and the Dili Allstars) proclaimed that the band had played at East Timor’s independence celebrations and looked forward to playing at Australia’s - but in Howard’s Australia, at a music festival filled with American bands or Australian bands who sing like Americans, that seemed a remote prospect.

Later on in the afternoon The Sparrows bought some enthusiastic retro-rock to the lawn stage. They may just be another Jet one of these days.

Nessa Morgan closed the lawn stage with one of the best performances of the day. As the sounds of John Farnham roared over the hill, she remarked ‘he may have the voice, but I’ve got the outfit!’ And she did. Other than the outfit, she also had a good stage manner and a number of great soul songs. ‘Every Day is Hard’ being one of the standouts.

From then on it was classic Aussie rock for the rest of the night. Just as Midnight Oil reformed for Wave Aid in Sydney, 70s rockers Daddy Cool reformed for the Melbourne Tsunami benefit, propeller hat and all. The baby boomer-heavy crowd clearly loved them, if the singing along to ‘Eagle Rock’ was any guide! Billy Thorpe and the Sunbury Aztecs followed with their tunes of a similar vintage, ‘Most People I Know’, and the like, plus being joined by Mike Rudd for a great version of “I'll Be Gone”, made famous by Rudd's band Spectrum. The night ended with Cold Chisel, who only reformed last year. Barnes & co began their set with the classic ‘Khe Sanh’, and worked through a stack of their hits.

All in all, this was a great event for a worthy cause. The changeovers were done without long delays, the music was generally pretty good, and definitely crowd-pleasing. It was also excellent value for money, the chance to see a dozen big groups for only $60 doesn’t come along very often. With the big name golden oldies for the older crowd, and the smaller, newer groups on the lawn stage, there was something for everyone.

Daddy Cool reformed for the event - pic by Matt Deller	Billy Thorpe is joined by Spectrum's Mike Rudd - pic by Matt Deller

Jimmy Barnes - pic by Matt Deller	John Farnham - pic by Matt Deller

Nessa Morgan - pic by Adrian Ringin	Bomba - pic by Adrian Ringin