Project Description

MUSIC FROM THE HOMEFRONT
An Anzac Day Concert
For the fight against
COVID-19
25/4/20
(Live Review)

Reviewer: Simone Tyrrell

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Anzac Day 2020 looked very different for Australian’s all around the country. We are currently in a pandemic with Covid-19 and have many restrictions in place which include no public gatherings.

Anzac Day is normally a time to be able to attend the dawn service and attend or participate in the Anzac Day march to pay our respects to Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars but in particular those who fought at Gallipoli.

On Saturday 25th of April 2020 an Anzac Day concert was put together featuring Australian and New Zealand artists to pay respects to the Anzac’s and also to recognize the work that is being done by those on the frontline in the medical community during this pandemic.

Michael Gudinski, the man behind the event, spoke with Jimmy Barnes and the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews about the concept. Gudinski wanted to provide an event that was positive and uplifting for all during this difficult time of isolation. The event was put together in 9 days. While Gudinski spoke on camera he reminded everyone the different ways to be able to support not only the entertainment industry during this time, but also the Anzac’s on this day. Information to donate to Support Act, RSL’s and RSA’s were spoken about and provided.

It was an incredible line up of Australian and New Zealand artists who all performed a song from the safety of their homes, and it was then produced as a live concert and screened on channel 9.

The host for the evening was David Campbell and co-hosts were Christian O’Connell from the morning radio show on Gold 104.3 in Melbourne, and Australian Music artists Delta Goodrem and Guy Sebastian. Sebastian also had his son Hudson join him in hosting the show.

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It was a special concert not just due to it being Anzac Day but there were many wonderful collaborations of artists as well as renditions of songs.

The first song of the evening was from Ben Lee. Lee spoke of his song “All in this Together” which was released back in 2005, but he spoke of how the song was fitting now more than ever. Lee’s performance of this song featured Australian pop rock duo Lime Cordiale.

After Lee’s song, David Campbell who is the son of Jimmy Barnes did an interview with Jimmy about the nights concert. Barnes spoke about paying homage to the Anzac’s but also for all who have served in all wars. He spoke about Covid-19 and how we all need to come together in this time to support one another.

Barnes who played a large role in assisting Gudinski to put the concert together, then did his performance of “Working Class Man” featuring Diesel. It was a softer rendition of the song than what we are used to rock and roll style, but it was a very fitting tribute for the evening.

As Australians we all know a televised concert would not be a full televised concert unless there was an appearance by The Wiggles! The Wiggles added their part to the concert by performing their “Handwashing Song”. Advice and tips that we have all been doing religiously since the virus outbreak.

The next artist to pay tribute was Australia’s number 1 female artist Tones and I. Tones and I’s single Dance Monkey held the number 1 spot for 16 weeks and her album for 24 weeks on the ARIA chart, smashing any other artist’s number 1 record. Tones and I did a rendition of “Forever Young” in tribute to the Anzac’s.

It was lovely and interesting to see all the different spaces being used for performances. We saw the inside of the homes of the artists from their lounge rooms, dedicated studio spaces, bedrooms and even Mark Seymour’s garage! Mark Seymour and James Reyne got together in Seymour’s garage and they performed two songs, first was the Hunters and Collectors hit “Throw Your Arms Around Me” and Australian Crawl hit “Reckless”.  During “Throw Your Arms Around Me” Seymour’s daughters Eva and Hannah provided backing vocals. The Seymour’s are a musically talented family. Their vocals were outstanding.

The songs that were being performed for the evening were all selected with care and they were fitting tributes to the Anzac’s and those who have served in wars. The next number was a beautiful collaboration from John Schuman and the Vagabond Crew with Archie Roach performing “I was only 19”. It was a very touching performance.

The next collaboration for a song was with Australian music royalty Kate Ceberano and Australian hip hop trio Bliss n Eso. Kate performing in her gorgeous living room space, which fans would be all too familiar with as she does a live performance from every Friday night and the guys from Bliss n Eso each from their own homes. They performed a beautiful song called “Moments”.

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Throughout the evening special guests came onto screen and would introduce an act. One such special guest was Sam Neill who is from and currently in New Zealand. Neill joined the show to do a very special introduction of an Australian band with New Zealand roots, Crowded House. What a treat it was to see Crowded House perform. Crowded House performed their song “Don’t Dream it’s Over”.

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The hosts of the evening took it in turns to introduce artists for the night and O’Connell introduced the next act of the evening which was Dean Lewis. Lewis performed his number 1 hit “Be Alright”.

The songs for the night were all lovely striped back versions of songs done either acoustically or as ballads. It was different and lovely to hear this version of many of these songs, particularly the Aussie classics.

This included the next act that Goodrem introduced which was a beautiful collaboration with Paul Kelly and Jess Hitchcock. The pair performed Kelly’s song “My Mother’s Voice”. The song was written about the footballer Adam Goodes and his relationship with his mother. Hitchcock’s voice just brings in a new element and meaning to the song. It was a magical performance.

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Sebastian was the next host to introduce the following act, a number 1 holder on Triple J’s Hottest 100, The Rubens. The Rubens performed their song “Live in Life” which was released last year.

The next artist has been hitting the gig circuit playing music from his band Noiseworks and songs from INXS. Jon Stevens fronted INXS after the passing of Michael Hutchence during 2000 – 2003. Stevens teamed up with INXS band member Andrew Farris, who has been performing in the country genre as a solo artist, and they both performed the song “Never Tear Us Apart”.

Even though Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem were playing co-host for the evening that did not mean that they themselves were not going to perform. Goodrem teamed up with Colin Hay from Men at Work for a spectacular rendition of the famous well-known classic Aussie hit “Down Under”. Goodrem and Hay performed this classic song as a ballad, and it was just incredible to hear this song done in this way.

Throughout the telecast in between the songs and before the ad breaks, there were other well known Australian celebrities that did a cross to say their thanks and give their tributes. These included people such as Hamish Blake, Scotty Cam, Rebecca Gibney and Richard Wilkins. There was also footage shown of battles, Anzac veterans past and present, current scenes in hospitals with medical staff in full PPE, imagery of shops and deep cleaning of public spaces. It all served as a reminder of what Anzac Day normally represents and what we are currently experiencing as a world together.

Considering all of this was only put together in 9 days, some of the performances were outstanding in the respect of how many people collaborated to do their song and performance. Many an artist had more than just themselves performing the song and our screens were filled with boxes all over the screen with each person performing like a Zoom call! The coordination and logistics of this was something to certainly be applauded by organizer and artists alike.

Vance Joy was one such example of this. O’Connell introduced Vance Joy and he performed his song “Lay it on Me” with 8 other musicians. It truly was fantastic.

Goodrem resumed her hosting duties after her performance and introduced to us Ruel who performed his song “Free Time”. After Ruel’s performance, he crossed to Sebastian who did a short interview about how he is using his down time in isolation. Ruel spoke about he had been doing many a zoom writing session. Something many artists can relate to currently.

The next performance was a truly remarkable one indeed. A collaboration with Missy Higgins and Tim Minchin. What a magical musical match. Higgins and Minchin performed a song called “Carry You”. The song was written by Minchin for his television series “Upright” and he asked Higgins if she would sing it. Such a moving piece and Higgins voice on this song just adds a whole new level of feeling. If you missed the performance or haven’t heard the song, if there’s one song from this show you view/purchase etc. Make it this one.

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The great thing about this Australian and New Zealand artist tribute concert was the mix of artists of young and old. There were those that are Aussie Music Royalty and have been around for decades. But there were also the young and fresh talent that we have in our country that are going from strength to strength and are incredibly talented. Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), who has been around since 2005 performed his song “On Track” as an acoustic performance on his couch. G Flip who is a new artist to hit the Aussie music scene and is taking the country by storm! She released her debut album in August of last year. For the tribute concert she played her song “About You” playing her drums in her home. The DMA’s have been around since 2012 and their sound has been likened to bands such as Oasis and The Stone Roses. The DMA’s performed a lovely version of Crowded House’s “You Better Be Home Soon”.  Vera Blue who has been performing since 2013 played her song “Regular Touch” which was released in 2017 and the lovely Jack River who released her debut album in 2018 played her song “Fools Gold”.

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There was a lovely collaboration of new and old artists for the song “Spirit of the Anzacs”. This was performed by country artists Lee Kernaghan, Amy & George Sheppard and Jon Stevens. The vocals on this collaboration were amazing and the song was upbeat and Kernaghan bought that country feel to the song.

O’Connell then came on and did a moving tribute to the policemen and woman who recently lost their lives in a terrible accident on the Eastern Freeway in Victoria. O’Connell spoke of their service to the community and expressed condolences to their families. Vision of each police officer was shown with their name. Senior Constable Lynette Taylor. Constable Glen Humphris. Senior Constable Kevin King. Constable Josh Prestney. Landmarks around Melbourne were lit up in blue to pay respect to their passing.

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Flinders Street Station in Melbourne, Victoria is lit blue in honour of four Victoria Police officers who lost their lives in a horrific motor vehicle accident on the Eastern Freeway, Kew.

After the moving tribute to the fallen police officers, Courtney Barnett then performed her song “Depreston” which was released in 2015. Barnett performed in a home studio space with a colourful background by herself with her guitar.

It was time for another iconic Australian song and some well renowned Australian artists to perform it. A collaboration of Shane Howard from Goanna, country music singer Troy Cassar-Daley, singing sisters Vika and Linda Bull and William Barton didgeridoo player; all came together to perform the well-known Australian song “Solid Rock”. The combined vocals of these talented artists and with Barton’s didgeridoo made it a fabulous rendition of this song.

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It was then time for co-host Guy Sebastian to go to his home studio space and perform his song for the evening. Sebastian performed an acoustic version of his song “Battle Scars”. Yet again, another song to hear striped back and played acoustically gave the song a new feel and new meaning.

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As I said earlier, the logistics of some of the performances was pretty impressive, but the standout logistically for the evening was the Birds of Tokyo performance with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra with Nicholas Buc. Every instrument player on screen playing from their own homes and spaces was incredible. They performed the song “Unbreakable”. The sound was incredible with a full orchestra. What a feat and an amazing uplifting song. It was a beautiful thing to watch.

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Another classic New Zealand artist who joined the night was Dave Dobbyn and he played his classic well-known hit “Slice of Heaven” which has always been a favourite amongst Australians. Dobbyn played his song on an electric guitar in a home studio.

Before the final song of the night, host David Campbell had another chat to his dad, Jimmy Barnes. Barnes gave a message to everyone about Covid-19 saying he understands people’s frustration with isolation and because we have low numbers of infection, it is not time to loosen isolation restrictions. He reminded us the war is not over yet and we have to stay in this together and fight together to ensure we come out the other end beating this virus.

Barnes then played the final song of the evening with Ian Moss and his daughter Mahalia Barnes. They played “When the War is Over”. Again, another wonderful rendition of a classic song that many a fan love hearing Barnsey sing.

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It was a night pack full of Australian artists and so much talent on the one night. For it all to have come together so quickly is a true testament to our Australian music industry as well as all the artists. We have all been affected by Covid-19 with losing jobs, children not in school, public gatherings not allowed and the loss of our live music industry.

Every time without fail during a time of crisis in Australia be it droughts, fires and now this virus; the Australian music industry always comes together to provide benefit concerts to raise money for those in need and volunteer their time to do so. We know everyone is hurting now, but if you are able to, please remember our entertainment industry and support them the best way you can. It can be as simple as following their social media and helping them maintain a presence, purchasing their music on streaming services, or by purchasing their merchandise. You can also assist the industry by donating to Support Act who help the crew who work putting on live events. You can find the details at www.supportact.org.au

These are trying times, but together if we stand united, we will all come out the other end together.

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AMNPLIFY – DB