Reviews

It was highly ironic that as an evening of protest songs began amid the mud and the slush of a rainy Melbourne night, down the hill in Swanston Street, the Lord Mayor – who was seated not far from me – had ordered that the Occupy Melbourne protesters be removed from the City Square by force.

The concert, which had some breathtaking moments and a couple of lowlights, began fittingly with Gil Scott-Heron’s anthem, ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, with three screens behind the performers augmenting the songs with footage from the civil rights and anti-Vietnam demonstrations, and narration between each act giving the songs historical context.

The evening began in earnest, and not inappropriately, with Shane Howard singing Bob Dylan’s ‘Hard Rain’ as the heavens opened above us, followed by Lou Bennett’s rousing version of ‘Whose Side Are You On’, a labour song from the 1930s, and John Schumann singing Redgum’s classic ‘I Was Only Nineteen’, with vocal backing from Shane Howard.

Next came rap singer, Emmanuel Jal, with the song ‘Warchild’, which powerfully evoked memories of his days as a child soldier in the South Sudan, and unfortunately, was amplified beyond belief, obscuring the power of the words. It would happen again in the second half with his song ‘Emma’, about his rescue from that conflict by British aid worker, Emma McCune, who died not long after doing so.

Emmanuel Jai

Next came a devastating rendition of ‘Strange Fruit’, a song popularised by Billie Holliday about the lynching of African-Americans, with horrific images of lynchings on the screen behind Emma Donovan of the Black Arm Band.

Now, I’m a huge Joss Stone fan. She could sing the phone book, and I’d pay to listen, but cranking the sound up so her luscious vocals on ‘I Am Woman’ were swallowed bordered on the criminal, and destroyed any power the song might have had. It was one of the real lowlights, unfortunately, and heartbreaking, since you could see that Stone was giving it all she had.

Joss Stone

Fortunately, it was redeemed by one of the night’s highlights: Paul Dempsey singing Leonard Cohen’s ‘The Future’, and just about giving us all religion. Again, I’m a huge Rickie Lee Jones fan, but her version of Laura Nyro’s ‘Christmas In My Soul’ was decidedly lacklustre, although her version of Tom Waits’ ‘Tom Traubert’s Blues’ was probably the best version of it that I’ve heard, and dare I say it, almost surpasses the original, though I’ve never thought of either as a protest song.

Archie Roach’s ‘Took The Children Away’ had me on the verge of tears and was followed by Shane Howard with a vigorous rendition of ‘Solid Rock’. The first half closed with Mavis Staples singing two songs from the civil rights movement (‘Eyes On The Prize’ and ‘Freedom Highway’) bringing the entire crowd to its feet.

The second half, on the other hand, was much shorter, and a very mixed bag. Songs such as ‘Love Is Gonna Bring Us Alive’ and Nina Simone’s ‘Feeling Good’ focused more on the redemptive than the political and Archie Roach’s version of the gay anthem ‘Somewhere’ proved once again that only Barbra Streisand can sing that song.

Mavis Staples

Fortunately, Mavis Staples came on to another full ovation to belt out ‘I’ll Take You There’, with everyone joining her onstage for ‘A Long Way To The Top’. And as Joss Stone came on to sing ‘People Get Ready’, I almost thought I could hear the sound of horses charging and truncheons falling.