Live Review: The Corrs @ Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley

Emerging Melbourne singer/songwriter Gypsy Lee starts off the performances today under the hot Victorian sun. She gives an impressive vocal performance with confidence and charm with great audience interaction. Her soulful vocals carry beautifully throughout the grounds as punters arrive and take a seat out on the lawn to enjoy some wine and food on this stunning summer day out in the Yarra Valley.

Originally hailing from Melbourne and now based in London, Gabriella Cilmi is making a resurgence with her return to the stage playing for hometown crowds, bringing a more folk-inspired sound than her previous well-known pop. Her unique husky vocal style is exceptional, and we feel every bit of emotion she pours into her music. She shares some new music she’s been working on as well a cover of Powderfinger’s My Happiness and her breakout single Sweet About Me.

Delta Goodrem gets the party started and the crowd puts their hands together for a great time as she brings her power and energy to the stage in the heat of the afternoon. She channels nostalgic ‘80s and ‘90s rock anthems as she kicks off with her latest track, Back To Your Heart, mixed with a few verses of Tina Turner’s Simply The Best.

“I feel so connected to these songs,” she says as she works in a few covers that have inspired this next chapter of her music career, including Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill and Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time.

We also go back in time with her as she revisits some of her songs from her second album, Mistaken Identity, which is about to be celebrated with some special upcoming 20th-anniversary shows in a few months that she’s been busy rehearsing for. Goodrem takes to the grand piano for Out Of The Blue and a song she says she recently fell back in love called Last Night On Earth.

“I feel very grateful to have grown up in front of everybody in Australia and be able to share these songs in different moments. My whole ethos in my career and my is that life is all about the love and light and that’s all I got into it for – music connection and one love, one life,” Goodrem shares. She sings about this on In This Life and dedicates it to her family, friends and fans in the audience today.

Goodrem reveals that she’s been working on new music and a new album, but in the process of getting ready for a new era, she acknowledges her beginnings. “I always associate my very first song with being in Melbourne,” she says before singing Born To Try. She also performs a few more hits from her debut album Innocent Eyes, including Lost Without You, Not Me, Not I and shows off her incredible piano skills on a version of Predictable mixed with ABBA’s Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).

“In my songs, all I want you to hear is for you to keep going in life if you’re a survivor and everyday resilience that you have to get through. Everybody in this room is going through something, everyone has a challenge, everyone has a problem they’re trying to work through every single day. At the end of the day, we are survivors, and this is a song I wrote about many years ago,” she says as she continues with her inspirational track, Dear Life.

Goodrem’s fiancé Matthew Copley lets loose on some electric guitar solos, and we have a singalong with her and the band for a medley of fun covers, including Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Bon Jovi’s Livin’ On A Prayer and Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman leads into her recent single, Hearts On The Run, which she notes is about never giving up and pushing past your limits.

Irish Celtic-infused pop icons, The Corrs, are back in Australia, and tonight marks one of only three very special shows.

“What a stunning place to play, and beautiful people too,” says Andrea Corr. “We are on our last night of a tour we started in Asia a little while ago. This is going to be our lasting impression. I think it’s a good place, and we’ve always loved coming to Australia – you took us in, welcomed and supported us from the very beginning, which for us was quite a while ago, would you believe,” she laughs.

Tonight, they perform songs from their acclaimed second album, 1998's Talk On Corners, featuring their global hits, Only When I Sleep, I Never Loved You Anyway, So Young and What Can I Do. Plus, they performed a selection of their greatest hits, including from their debut album, Forgiven, Not Forgotten, which won our hearts when it was released almost 30 years ago in 1995.

The sibling quartet were at their peak in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, but The Corrs are still in their prime, and their chemistry is undeniable. Their engaging stage presence is charismatic and warm, boasting exceptional instrumentation with a rich, layered sound that captivates the audience.

Together, the group performs a special traditional Irish song, Joy Of Life, as Caroline Corr hits the drums, Sharon Corr strikes the violin, and Andrea Corr plays the tin whistle whilst dancing around the stage as the rest of the band, including Jim Corr, jams around them with playful guitars and keyboards. The explosive energy of The Corrs is remarkable to see in this unique outdoor setting.

“Our parents came with us at one point to Melbourne, so it’s’ a very special place to us because they’re both gone now, but all those years ago, we did in-store record signings. Mum and Dad came with us on this tour, and there were a lot of people who lined up to get their CDs signed, and they were just thrilled,” Andrea Corr reveals.

Amongst their enchanting mix of traditional Celtic music with a pop-rock twist, they take us back in time with their nostalgic hits, Give Me A Reason and Forgiven, Not Forgotten. Inspired by their favourite band, Fleetwood Mac, they share a cover of Dreams. To Andrea Corrs’ fright, she’s greeted by the presence of flying bugs that swarm her in country air. “I’m feeling them everywhere,” she shouts as she dances around the stage, brushing them off her as she powers through in the Australian open-air night.

Runaway starts with the audience singing out aloud first, and then Andrea Corr continues. The encore starts with Breathless and concludes with a performance of a traditional folk tune called Toss The Feathers, which is the perfect way to complete their stunning performance that fans will remember for years to come.