Live Aid down under: Fire Fight Australia fires up hearts
The legendary band recreated the full 22-minute set it played at Wembley’s 1985 concert — and the crowd went crazy.
“We are the champions, my friends. And we’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end.”
As the drums from Queen’s Roger Taylor boomed out across Sydney’s ANZ Stadium last night, the heartbeat of a nation thudded along in time.
After a summer of heartbreak, of devastation caused by bushfires that have wracked Australia, this was finally a time for some blessed relief.
Sunday’s Fire Fight Australia concert, which attracted more than 70,000 people and raised more than $8.8m for bushfire-affected communities, was arguably Australia’s Live Aid moment.
Queen even repeated the full 22-minute set it played at Wembley’s momentous 1985 charity concert — complete with video extracts of Freddie Mercury.
For more than 10 hours, a line-up of 22 local and international acts performed to the pulsating stadium crowd and TV audiences, it felt as if the world was united in its empathy for Australia’s bushfire victims.
Midway through a 25-minute performance to close a remarkable concert, John Farnham took a few moments to reiterate a sentiment expressed by the dozens of artists that had taken to the stage before him.
“Thank you to the fireys,” said the purple-jacketed singer. “Seriously, thank you. I have the honour and privilege to know a few of these guys. Ross the builder, I won’t give his last name — I don’t want to embarrass him — but he was in Merimbula as a captain.
“We’ve sat down over a couple of beers and he’s told me about this, the pressure that he felt sending some of those volunteers into danger was a real deal for the man. It really affected him.
“But he was brave enough to be able to pull it off, and his people didn’t let him down.”
That sentiment of Farnham’s final sentence holds true for Fire Fight Australia, an impressive concert pulled together at short notice by concert promoter Paul Dainty and his team. As befitting a wider arts fraternity that did not hesitate to coordinate an array of fundraising activities in recent months, the show was delivered with uniform professionalism, enthusiasm and lightness of spirit.
Host and comedian Celeste Barber used the opportunity to direct some sharp barbs at political leaders whose delayed and tentative offers of assistance provoked great scorn from the community. “As Aussies, we band together because we have to look after each other — ‘cause it turns out people at the top don’t,” said Barber, who later wore a shirt that featured Scott Morrison in a Hawaiian shirt coupled with the phase “Merry Crisis”, referring to the Prime Minister’s ill-timed Christmas holiday while the nation endured weeks of catastrophic bushfire conditions over the summer.
From ANZ Stadium in Sydney, the entire event — which raised about $9.5 million — was beamed into living rooms across the nation via Channel Seven and Foxtel. Live music doesn’t get much of a look-in on television schedules these days, other than perfunctory performances during sporting events. But on this occasion, Seven pushed its chips into the centre of the proverbial table and committed considerable resources to broadcasting an extraordinary 10 or so hours of high quality live entertainment.
On show were several generations of popular Australian artists, from 23 year-old indigenous hip-hop artist Baker Boy to the night’s 70 year-old headlining act.
“We’ve got a little treat for you now,” said Farnham to preface the night’s final song, before introducing indigenous singer and dancer Mitch Tambo to the stage, as well as a didgeridoo player and Queen guitarist Brian May, who had earlier thrilled the crowd by reprising his band’s iconic 1985 Live Aid performance with singer Adam Lambert.
For more than three decades, You’re the Voice has been tattooed on Australia’s heart as something very close to a national anthem. Farnham has performed his signature song hundreds of times, yet the version of his 1986 hit single that unfolded on Sunday night might have been the most moving and striking take ever aired.
Tambo sang the entire second verse in Gamilaraay language and Olivia Newton-John lent her voice to the closing minutes, but for the final chorus, the real stars of the show walked out to stand between the performers and the crowd.
They were 14 state fire service workers, young and middle-aged, wearing bright yellow jackets and sturdy boots. They were the people their communities looked to in a time of national crisis, and as uncomfortable as they were at being the centre of attention, they were the ones who provoked the night’s biggest and most heartfelt round of applause.
In the afternoon, Jessica Mauboy fired up the crowd’s passion with the lyrics from her Eurovision song We Got Love: “You must be thinking that we are powerless to change things, but don’t give up ‘cause we got love … love is stronger than fire.”
Adam Lambert, who has replaced Mercury in the reformed Queen, told the crowd: “When we heard about the fires here in Australia, our hearts were broken.
“So when we were asked to perform here, we jumped at the chance. You all have the love and the unity to make this problem better.”
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Got goosebumps from We Got Love, @jessicamauboy’s Eurovision song gets a second wind at #FireFightAustralia - those vocals! pic.twitter.com/vOKRZnhchN
— cameron adams (@cameron_adams) February 16, 2020
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