Live Review: Empire Of The Sun, Rudimental, Miguel, Samantha Jade

Hoards of volunteers from the Optus RockCorps program piled into the Big Top at Luna Park for the first act of the one-off concert, Samantha Jade. Looking every bit the mini-Kylie Minogue in shiny black hotpants and a corset with mannerisms to boot, Jade and her backing dancers got straight into their routines with hits Soldier, Heartless and a cover of Sneaky Sound System's UFO.

Hot from his tour with Bruno Mars, Usher/Michael Jackson/Prince hybrid Miguel generated huge screams from the girls in the crowd as he gyrated and thrusted through tracks Sure Thing, #Beautiful and How Many Drinks?, asking everyone to raise their glasses in a toast to all the volunteers for their hard work.

London four-piece Rudimental, replete with a bevvy of backing singers and musicians, bounded onto the stage with great enthusiasm, starting off with hit Right Here. Mega track Not Giving In followed, creating a surge of dancing both on stage and on the dancefloor. DJ Locksmith encouraged everyone to ignore the security guards and get on shoulders for Free, before an epic rendition of Waiting All Night really raised the roof. Hit single Feel The Love finished the set with the band singing a great a cappella version to close.

In stark contrast, psychedelic visuals and four dancers dressed in jellyfish-like costumes with Daft Punk-style helmets welcomed a rather sombre and dramatic Empire Of The Sun's Luke Steele to the stage, noticeably without co-founder Nick Littlemore. Dressed to excess in a glittery outfit with an extravagant headpiece to match, Steele got straight into Standing On The Shore. With all the glitz and glamour of the show, the vocals were unfortunately a little lost, hidden in an array of effects and distortions.

DNA from new album Ice On The Dune followed before hit We Are The People, complete with a full outfit change by everyone on stage. More tracks from the first album followed including Walking On A Dream before new hit Alive, which seemed to be the one track the crowd knew as they began bouncing up and down with hands in the air. A theatrical group bow finished the set as the crowd piled out, eager to get home early on a school night.