Sound Relief a Television Hit
Barry Gibb & Olivia Newton-John teamed up for a duet at the Sound Relief charity concert (Image supplied by XYZnetworks. Photographer: Kyle Bullock)
Editorial Review
It was a day of music, emotion, symbolism, exhilaration and rain - lots of rain. But Sound Relief will go down as an historic day few patrons will ever forget.The two marathon concerts at the MCG and SCG on Saturday 14 March 2009 raised more than $5 million for survivors of the Victorian bushfires and Queensland floods. Over 120,000 music fans attended the concerts with the 80,000-plus crowd at the MCG officially the biggest paying audience ever at any Australian charity event.
Despite a soaking in Melbourne and even a downpour during The Presets performance in Sydney, rock fans stayed the distance. They made it superb television.
Two Pay TV channels, Channel [V] and MAX broadcast each event simultaneously in Melbourne and Sydney respectively.
Produced by XYZ Networks, with limited lead-in time, this was a mighty effort. Broadcasting two live to air marathon events in outdoor arenas is a technical nightmare. And that's without even factoring in the temperament of unpredictable rock musicians and the fury of the weather.
But Sound Relief was a uniting force for performers, technicians, music fans, volunteers and survivors. At 7:45pm in Sydney Toni Collette introduced the first ever video address to Australia by Princes William and Harry, followed by one minute's silence and Kylie Minogue singing 'I Still Call Australia Home' a capella with a sing-a-long MCG crowd. Pure theatre.
Throughout the day name acts rocked the house including Eskimo Joe, Architecture in Helsinki, Hoodoo Gurus, Taylor Swift, You Am I, Josh Pyke, Marcia Hines, Icehouse, Coldplay and John Farnham, Jack Johnson, Kings of Leon, Hunters and Collectors, Paul Kelly, Gabriella Cilmi, Paul Kelly, Kasey Chambers and Split Enz. In a 'Live Aid- like moment, Jet and Wolfmother performed at the Melbourne and Sydney events.
Melbourne closed with a rare set by Peter Garrett and a reunited Midnight Oil while an equally special performance by Barry Gibb and Olivia Newton-John closed Sydney.
An audience of 122,000 watched Channel [V]'s Melbourne telecast, while 72,000 tuned into Sydney's event on MAX - averaged across an 11-hour event. The concerts were the most popular non-sports events on pay television last week.
Due to all the deals that were put in place this one-off event will not be re-screened on free to air television, but look out for a DVD in the making.
David Knox for Citysearch, March 2009
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User Feedback
Stephanie
March 25, 2009
Do we know if we are getting a DVD yet or are we still all waiting? Count me in for a copy. I think it was great.
Stephanie
March 25, 2009
Do we know if we are getting a DVD yet or are we still all waiting? Count me in for a copy. I think it was great.
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