Live Review: Music From The Home Front

It’s hard to believe that exactly one year ago it wasn't possible for this event to take place in front of a live audience. Born out of Australia and New Zealand’s first lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, we feel very lucky to be able to attend tonight’s Music From The Home Front concert in person to witness live music in all its glory.

Tash Sultana kicks off the live performances with three songs from their latest album Terra Firma, including a duet with Sultana's friend Jerome Farah for their track Willow Tree. We soak up the ultra-groovy music as they combine their unique blend of funk, soul, R&B and jazz that flows together so smoothly.

It’s a very unique concert that’s being recorded and televised across Australia so the sets are short and in between each live performance the audience watches streamed performances from a number of artists who couldn’t make it in person tonight. As we watch recorded sets from Crowded House, Jimmy Barnes, Dean Lewis and Tina Arena to name a few, the stage crew makes a quick transition to get ready for the next live act.

"This one is for Michael Gudinski, who changed the music scene and made Melbourne what it is today. I will always think of him," says The Rubens frontman Sam Margin. Tonight he’s wearing a T-shirt with ‘MG #1’ in bold letters across it. Margin dedicates their song Masterpiece to him and they pay respect to the music legend who created this inaugural event in 2020, to bring the country together to honour the ANZACs and workers on the frontline of the Coronavirus response.

For anyone who didn’t know of Mia Wray before tonight, they sure will after witnessing her show stopping live performance. With a voice to make you stand still in your tracks, Wray delivers a confident set and shows off her incredible powerhouse vocals. Her song Never Gonna Be The Same is an absolute stunner that leaves her mark with a strong stage presence to win some well-deserved new fans.

To change up the live performances, Budjerah appears on a smaller stage positioned in front of the audience in the lawn decks. With only his acoustic guitar in hand, the young singer-songwriter instantly connects with the crowd as he shares his captivating voice that literally takes us to new heights as he shares his latest single Higher. He completely blows us away with a cover of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come, which is perfectly suited to his soulful voice and captures that nostalgic old school vibe.

Huge cut-out letters stand tall on the main stage to spell out Amy Shark. She begins with her biggest song Adore and then moves to her latest single Love Songs Ain’t For Us. It’s the first time she’s played at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and holds back tears to delivers a standout performance that gets the audience singing along. She reminds us that her new album is coming out at the end of the month and looks forward to coming back to play one of the first shows back at Rod Laver Arena later this year.

The rain starts to fall on the audience in the lawn decks, so the ponchos and umbrella’s come out in full swing. Bliss N Eso keep the crowd warm with a high energy performance of their fast-paced hip hop. The trio welcomes the one and only Kasey Chambers to the stage to sing their brand-new collaboration titled Good People. It’s a particularly special moment as it’s the very first time they have performed it together in front of a live audience. The emotive track also pays homage to the late, great Gudinski and they display a montage of photos together to acknowledge their time together with friends, family and fans.

Vance Joy also performs on the smaller stage positioned in front of the audience in the lawn decks and draws a huge crowd to the front rows. He’s joined by a saxophone player to enhance and reimagine some of his most popular tracks including Fire & The Flood, Riptide and an acoustic solo version of his latest collaboration You with Marshmello and Benny Blanco. The audience sway and sing along to every single word at the top of their lungs.

As the main stage is being prepared for the final performances, we watch some more memorable streamed performances including Sam Fischer’s breathtaking cover of Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply and Delta Goodrem’s amazing rendition of John Farnham’s Aussie classic, You’re The Voice.

Lime Cordiale bring their unique brand of surf psych-pop to the stage with an energetic and charismatic performance to knock our socks off. Looking very dapper in matching vintage suits, the group feed off each other’s positive vibes and rock out with their upbeat and infectious rhythms. 

After a year of not being able to watch live music, tonight’s concert brought us all here back together again and it feels incredible. Kate Gudinski thanks her dad for making tonight happen. “He would be absolutely beaming, if he was here tonight,” she says. He always wanted a big finale and they certainly give him that tonight in his honour. They go out with a bang for a special performance that converges both live and recorded music. 

We watch and listen to Ben Lee and Gordi on the screen for a remixed and re-recorded new version of Lee’s hit song We’re All In This Together, joined live on the stage by the Royal Melbourne Hospital Scrub Choir. The song is somewhat of an anthem of the last year for our country and the forty frontline workers in the choir have been working and rehearsing tirelessly between their shifts. Tonight we join them in singing out aloud for one final moving performance.

Missed Music From The Home Front? You can check it out on 9Now here.