Sandalford Wines, located in the picturesque Swan Valley, played host to a ripping line up of Oz Rock veterans, John Farnham, Jon Stevens, Vanessa Amorosi, and Southern Sons. With the addition of Rockwiz Live, snuggled in neatly between acts, made for a top way to spend a perfect Sunday afternoon.
Perth’s School of Rock band Tough Crowd entertained early as revellers wandered in to select their patch of grass for the night and ended the set with a sweet rendition Wolf Mother’s ‘White Unicorn’. A great moment was witnessing the young band members, adrenalin still pumping, meet with family and friends in the paddock for photos and hugs after the show.
Jack Jones with his band Southern Sons was short on voice due to an illness and apologised sincerely to the crowd, but it wasn’t necessary. With each song, fans rapt to see their idol back onstage, willed Jones to hit all the high notes he is fondly remembered for. No one in the audience could accuse him of not having a crack! His solo, acoustic hit ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’, was a standout even with no voice, which prompted one fan to comment, “I wish I had his ‘no voice’!” Jones rested the voice box and let his guitar do the talking with some great work on ‘Waiting For That Train To Come’, rounding out with ‘Heart In Danger’. The crowd loved it.
Vanessa Amorosi hit the stage and opened with her 1999 hit ‘Absolutely Everybody’ and reminded everyone within earshot just how powerful this voice is and oh how we have missed it live! Warming up the vocals on ‘Have A Look’ Amorosi blew the grapes off Sandalford with an energetic show that ended with the performer running through the crowd high fiving fans and taking it to the mob. With great covers of the Eurythmics ‘Would I lie To You’ and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ upping the tempo. There was also an emotional version of ‘Shine’ with Amorosi providing the backstory for the song, born out of a close friend’s suicide and the eventual name change of ‘Shine’ from the original, ‘Die’. Always a delight to see Amorosi on stage.
Brian Nankervis caused a small stampede of potential rock experts as he appeared under a tree selecting Rockwiz contestants. The final selection of music trivia buffs were trotted on stage to do a final cull for our entertainment where Brian stated to one contestant, “Careful, nobody like’s a wanker.” A quote I think we can all live by. Enter Julia Zemiro, and Rockwiz was officially underway. Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson was a panel guest along with local talent Carla Geneve. Also rounding out the WA feel was San Cisco’s Jordi Davieson. This was a great addition to the afternoon providing some great laughs and additional performances from acts no one could predict. Special shout out goes to the Rockwiz band & their own Clio Renner with an outstanding version of the Dusty Springfield classic ‘Son Of A Preacher Man’.
Jon Stevens entered the stage just before sunset. A cool breeze swept in, as did the fans who flocked to the front of stage to witness Stevens belt out his hits from Noiseworks and the INXS collection. Stevens opened with ‘Suicide Blonde’ and drip fed the crowd with favourites like, ‘Reach Out’, ‘New Sensation’, ‘Devil Inside’, ‘Miles and Miles’, ‘Never Tear Us A Part’, ‘Need You Tonight’, ‘No Lies’ … and the hits just kept on coming! Stevens’ power-house vocals inciting sing-a-longs from the huge crowd at Sandalford and how great it was to hear INXS songs again, performed expertly and respectfully by the veteran.
There’s no question as to why Stevens is still filling venues all around the country. His voice keeps getting better. Stevens took a moment to reflect on the recent loss of his friends in the music business. ‘We’re hurting at the moment’ he said, acknowledging the passing of Greedy Smith (Mental as Anything) and his band brother Stuart ‘Chet’ Fraser (Noiseworks). Everyone raised their hands in the air to show their support, marking respect for the men who had contributed much of their life to the music industry. May they rest in peace.
John Farnham was booked to perform at Kings Park earlier in the year, but due to wild weather and then an unfortunate illness his previous concert had been cancelled. Perth peeps waited patiently for his health to improve and grace the west coast once again. Was Farnham worth the wait? Absolutely! No one lasts this long in business if they are rubbish & Farnham is the quintessential showman. More than just fantastic music is his stage banter and comedy schtick, honed to perfection in the furnace of a million live venues. Impossible not to love the guy when he’s telling his own crowd, “Don’t sing a long because you’ll muck the whole thing up”.
Opening with ‘We Will Rock You’, Farnham prepped the crowd for an evening with him they’ll not forget in a hurry. Other classics included, ‘Hearts On Fire’, ‘Age Of Reason’, ‘Chain Reaction’, ‘Everytime You Cry’, ‘Reasons’, ‘No One Comes Close’. People young and old were smiling, reminiscing, singing and dancing … some in their chairs and others on their feet. Finishing the night with the ACDC epic ‘It’s A Long Way To The Top’, Farnham sent everyone home, sunburnt, tipsy, smiling and completely satisfied. Warm back slaps go to Zaccaria Concerts and Sandalford Wines who did a stellar job in organising an awesome line-up and well-run event.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Sharon Burgess Photography
John Farnham
Jon Stevens
Southern Sons, Rockwiz & Vanessa Amorosi
