 Photo: Elleni Toumpas The Fire & Flood benefit held at The Tivoli last Friday brought together a sold-out crowd in the name of raising money for those affected by the North Queensland floods and Victorian bushfires. A currently off-the-road Powderfinger as headliners ensured a sell-out, securing a charitable cash donation as the featured artists gave up their usual band fees in order to maximise the money donated.
It was a generous array of talent, something exemplified by openers The Boat People and consolidated by The John Steel Singers, who were clearly enraptured to be playing the night, later as the backing band for their hero – and in some ways, mentor – Robert Forster, whirling through a songbook of Go-Betweens and Forster tracks, even their own Strawberry Wine (sweetly enough a song about drinking goon in New Farm Park). The Grates typically dazzled in a blitz of glitter and pop, while the headliners … well … dwarfed The Tivoli stage with their now-stadium sized anthems. The finale of The Beatles’ Carry That Weight (replete with JSS-like stage invasion) cemented the convivial vibe of the show, and the good nature of it all reverberated around the room.
It was a generous night – but what remained unclear was the message. The audience – mostly a mix of older fans mingling with a few of the younger crop – were there for a Powderfinger show, so more credit to them for parting with the dimes, buying the t-shirt, and making a Red Cross donation. Also evident while standing behind the throngs pitched in front of the stage, was the consistent chatter throughout the support’s sets – sometimes distractingly so, even for the artists. Alas, fans will be fans.
You can’t fault the organisational team of Secret Service and The Tivoli for putting on Brisbane’s only answer to the Gudinski-led stadium sized fundraisers happening in Sydney and Melbourne. I just wonder how well these events work in getting their message across when people seem only interested in the music. It is difficult to balance the best intentions without preaching, but the satisfaction of t-shirt-clad fans at least ensured Brisbane’s Fire & Flood was a charitable success, raising an estimated $100,000 … even if even if the painful reality of what inspired the show was a little lost in the translation.
Taxable Donations are still being taken at all Westpac branches and charities. www.redcross.org.au & www.wildlifevictoria.org.au
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