Music From the Home Front concert: Australian singers bring tears to viewers
The singers who took part in the live Music From the Home Front concert gave Australia with an emotional ride of songs ingrained in our culture.
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Music’s power to unite, to swell the spirit, to soundtrack a good cry, to say thanks, across the ages and the genres. That was the gift of the Music From The Home Front concert on ANZAC NIGHT which paid tribute to our Australian and New Zealand services and expressed gratitude to those on the COVID-19 frontline.
It was an emotional ride of songs ingrained in our culture and shared by much loved artists and musicians with collaboration at its heart, opening with Ben Lee and a choir of peers and fans performing his song We’re All In This Together, adopted as an anthem for these times.
Over the past few days, Mark Seymour, his daughters Eva and Hannah, and his touring mate James Reyne worked up a stunning version of Throw Your Arms Around Me and then segued into a sublime version of the Australian Crawl classic Reckless.
INXS fans would have been stopped in their tracks by one-time frontman Jon Stevens reuniting with Andrew Farriss, with the added swagger of Izzi Manfredi, for Never Tear Us Apart.
John Schumann and his Vagabond Crew linked with indigenous national treasure Archie Roach, two of the country’s most important and emotive storytellers, to sing I Was Only 19, a song which has become an ANZAC Day tradition in the post Vietnam War decades.
The Home Front concert was realised in under 10 days, with Mushroom Group chairman and Australasian music champion Michael Gudinski enlisting his longtime mate Jimmy Barnes to pull together artists from around the world and match with songs to uplift people on what was an extraordinary ANZAC Day celebration in this socially distanced and isolated era.
Barnes was instrumental in building a family vibe for the show, enlisting many of the members of his own and other famous musical lineages for the concert.
He sang Working Class Man early in the telecast with son Jackie, brother-in-law Diesel and son-in-law Ben Rodgers in his band – son David Campbell was a co-host, alongside The Voice coaches Guy Sebastian and Delta Goodrem and radio personality Christian O’Connell.
Mahalia Barnes was also in full voice during Home Front.
The Seymour family count was bolstered thanks to Barnes engaging another good mate Neil Finn to join the Aussie and Kiwi line-up, with Crowded House performing Don’t Dream Its Over.
That added the band’s Nick Seymour, and extra Finn family with current members Liam and Elroy, sons of Neil now in the band
The broadcast was a something for everyone setlist.
Teen soul sensation Ruel, a young man with a talent for the ages, offered a cruisy vibe with his ironic Free Time hit while Kevin Parker reimagined Tame Impala’s Strictly Speaking from his bedroom, Courtney Barnett delivered deadpan delight with Depreston and G Flip declared herself your new favourite drumming pop star with About You.
One of the night’s most unexpected and popular match ups on social media was Delta and Colin Hay uniting for Down Under.
There were a bunch of big choir or musician moments, realised by virtue of technological wizardry, which married many home recordings into one performance, including Spirit of the ANZACS WITH Lee Kernaghan with Sheppard and Jon Stevens and Vance Joy and his cast of Lay It On Me backing singers.
Birds of Tokyo won the biggest band competition for the show to pull off the logistical challenge of performing Unbreakable with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
Music From The Home Front again underscored the bigheartedness of Australia and New Zealand’s arts community who rally to support those who serve their countries in whatever capacity.
Sebastian reworked his biggest hit Battle Scars to reference the concert’s themes.
And the ANZAC night event ended with the Barnes winning the Home Front family tally with his wife Jane, children Mahalia, EJ, Jackie, Elly May and granddaughter Ruby joining The indefatigable rocket and his Chisel bandmate Ian Moss on When The War Is Over.
Regardless of how Australia and New Zealand navigate celebrating ANZAC day in 2021, an annual Home Front concert would be a welcome new tradition.
Originally published as Music From the Home Front concert: Australian singers bring tears to viewers