LIVE REVIEW: ONE ELECTRIC DAY featuring Icehouse, Jon Stevens, Missy Higgins, Daryl Braithwaite, Mark Seymour, Boom Crash Opera and Sam & Sam

Picture this, a historic mansion with a lush green lawn overrun by festival music lovers and you have One Electric Day at Werribee Mansion – A sold out event!

Live music is back and better than ever. Even the fruit bats in the trees were fighting for the perfect position to view the stage. The stage, sound and surrounds were perfect for a hot day of music, dancing, eating and drinking. This was a incredibly well run event.

Sam Ludeman and Sam Russell are an acoustic guitar duo who have beautiful harmonies and very well matched voices. They wore bright and busy shirts which matched their stage presence and personalities. They did a mixture of originals like ‘Sand Castles’ and covers by Ed Sheehan, Don Henley and Savage Garden. Being the opening act is a hard gig, but these two had no trouble getting the crowd involved.

Boom Crash Opera hit the stage. Dale Ryder on vocals minus the trademark curls took me back to the 80’s and the memories came flooding back. Boom Crash Opera opened with ‘Pretty Boy’ and had the crowd all putting their arms in the air for ‘Hand Up in the Air’. They had us all singing ‘Best Thing’ and ‘Onion Skin’. They played an eight-song set in total with Peter Maslen, Peter Farnan and John Favaro as talented as ever.

Mark Seymour doesn’t disappoint with his home grown Aussie classic songs. With help from Boom Crash Opera’s Peter Maslen and John Favaro as well as guitarist Cameron McKenzie. He sounded identical live to his recordings. Playing eight songs, one being a new song ‘The Boxer’, officially being released next year. ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ was beautifully backed up by the crowd choir, a very touching moment. Mark Seymour is a musical poet.

Does Daryl Braithwaite‘s voice ever change? He sounds just like he did in the 70’s. He is surrounded a class band comprising of Jason Vorherr on bass, David Campbell on guitar, Gerry Pantazis on drums, Simon Hosford on guitar and Adam Rigley on keyboard. All top notch musicians. You could feel the crowds anticipation for the cult hit ‘Horses’ as he made his way through his classic hits, with ‘Howzat’ being a crowd favourite.

Daryl took the festival up to another level, he had the crowd eating out of his hand. It was a master class on how to entertain. Daryl closed his set with “Horses” to a surge of people rushing to the stage, phones high in the air and voices loud and clear. Daryl did not need to sing the chorus but of course he did.

Missy Higgins gracefully stepped in as a replacement for the injured Belinda Carlisle who had to cancel her Australian tour recently. She started with just herself and a keyboard for the first song, then brought in a full band for the rest of the ten song set. She was a mellow interlude after Daryl had whipped the crowd into a frenzy. She did a beautiful version of ‘Bleed’ and the crowd lit up when she performed ‘Scar’.

Jon Stevens opened with ‘Touch’ which had the crowd on their feet with their hands in the air. Jon is a performer who is made for large crowds and festivals. The first notes from the band had the crowd surging forward to fill the ‘standing only’ area in front of the stage.

Jon was joined by his grandson Leo on stage

Jon and the band were joined by a very cute nine-year old dancing partner Leo, Jon’s grandson. Leo melted everyone’s hearts immediately. Jon played eleven songs in total, a mix of Noiseworks and INXS, and though no one can ever replace Michael Hutchence, Jon keeps the INXS music alive, as they are made to be performed and he does it so well. ‘Hot Chilli Woman’ really did have the crowds in ecstasy. His band of stars as always were tight and professional. He closed with anthemic ‘Take Me Back’ and I don’t believe the crowd wanted it to end.

Icehouse closed the festival to a hot, tired, sunburnt and very merry crowd. It had been a long day of great music and Icehouse were no exception. I closed my eyes when the band started playing and Iva Davies started to sing and 40 years had not passed. Minus his mullet, Iva and Icehouse were insanely the same. Age had not changed them musically or vocally. They are a class act of talented musicians with Paul Gildea and Steve Bull on guitars, Paul ‘Wally’ Wheeler on drums and two younger member on vocals, keyboards, guitar and saxophone in Hugo Lee and Michael Paynter.

‘Man of Colours’ was started by Paynter with Iva on the oboe, then Iva took over the vocals. They performed 13 songs, all hits, with the crowd singing along. They closed with a tribute to The Angels “Marseilles” for all the help they gave a young band just starting out back in the day. Icehouse were all class.