Q. What do you get when you mix Kings of Leon with Coldplay and add a dash of hurricane conditions?A. Sound Relief. Or Hurricane Sound Relief 09 as it shall henceforth be known…..
There hasn’t been a whole lot for the east coast of Australia to celebrate over the last few weeks. Between the worst bush fires the country has ever seen in the south and some equally devastating floods in the north, we’ve heard disaster story after disaster story on the news/radio/magazines/via messenger pigeon.
But buying tickets to Sound Relief, held simultaneously in Melbourne and Sydney on Saturday 14th March was something that we could feel awesome about. Because not only was it an excuse to spend the day with a ridiculously cool line up of the best international and local bands, but all of your hard earned pennies that you were shelling out to get in the front gate were going to Bushfire and Flood Relief. Win/Win really…
Despite the rain/thunderstorms/gale force winds (in Melbourne at least. I’m aware that Sydney-siders bribed the weather gods and managed to stay dry and warm until the very end) a massive crowd of all ages packed the ‘G and the SCG. And if you think I’m being slightly dramatic about the weather, please refer to Visual Aid A (above). I’m the soggy, wind-swept one in the pink poncho.
Visual Aid B (below) is me enjoying the 23 seconds of sun we were graced with around 5pm.
Some highlights, you ask?? Why certainly…
- The hard working Kings of Leon, Coldplay and Taylor Swift. They all had gigs that night, but still showed their support by turning up to rock out with us. None of whom were in too much of a hurry to leave. Bonus points also to Jet, Wolfmother and Gabriella Cilmi who did the mid-afternoon dash and managed an appearance at both concerts.
- Our good ol’ Environmental Minister, Peter Garratt who rounded up his Midnight Oil mates for one last gig to close the show. Yes, he’s still got the trademark moves. And yes, the ‘beer-happy’ crowd tried to mimic these moves…
- The amazing crew at the MCG and SCG. All of who worked for FREE on Saturday to ensure that as many of the profits as possible went to those affected by these disasters.
But the greatest highlight of all?? Finding out that Sound Relief had raised over $5million for relief support. And the biggest cheer of the night wasn’t for Chris Martin, it was for Michael Gudinski (who organised the whole she-bang), who came on stage to share the breaking news with us all that the bush fires were all finally out.
And I will take off my ‘Sound Relief’ t-shirt eventually. Til then, it’s my memento that I survived the wind and rain, partied with Kings of Leon, Coldplay and Hunters and Collectors, and supported the Bushfire and Flood Victims. All in the one day.
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