Mark Ronson @ GlobalGathering, Myer Music Bowl,Melbourne (22/11/08)

Tue 25th Nov, 2008 in Gig Reviews

I’ve only dreamed of going to Glastonbury…the music, the atmosphere, the torrential rain and the mud. On Saturday morning, at Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl, we were three from four (we had soggy grass instead of mud). The heavens opened up and boy did it bucket down. This said the crowd at the inaugural Global Gathering festival didn’t seem deterred; the rain wasn’t going to dampen their spirits, most like me were there to see man of the moment Mark Ronson.

Dressed in a brown suit, white shirt, skinny black tie and pointy black shoes, Mark Ronson could have easily been mistaken for a member of the Beatles. His talented eleven piece band the Version players consisted of a percussionist, a drummer, a keyboardist, a guitarist, three-piece brass and four-piece string sections.

After a brief introduction, the set began with an instrumental version of Apply Some Pressure, the song by English band Maximo Park. In the absence of vocals, the four women in the string section took centre stage. What proceeded was a steady stream of songs from Ronson’s 2007 hit album Version. The Grammy award winning producer spared no expense bringing his live show to Australia, enlisting the help of a contingent of international guests. The first two stepping onto the stage were Tiggers and rapper Rhymefest who sang their version of Brittany’s song Toxic.

The next guest singer to take the stage was Tawiah. The Londoner performed Oh My God and Pretty Green as well as an impromptu dance which demonstrated that not only could this girl sing but she could also move. Tawiah’s voice easily matched the likes of both Lily Allen and Santogold who were originally enlisted to sing the cover songs on Version.

What followed was another instrumental this time of Coldplay’s God Put a Smile on your Face which demonstrated the accumulative talent of the musicians in the band. The brass section shone and the sound filled the Future stage and carried all the way up the hill. They sounded amazing as did the crowd who were asked by Ronson to “sing along if you know the words”.

Next to the stage was Melbourne’s own Daniel Merriweather. The Blackburn singer/songwriter who is now based in New York, received a thunderous cheer from his home town crowd. His performance of Amy and first single Chainsaw off his forthcoming album (produced by Ronson) was effortless. Friend and fellow Melbournian took to the microphone next. Rapper Phrase strutted the stage performing his Triple J most requested song Clockwork to an appreciative crowd.

Ooh Wee , from Ronson’s Here Comes the Fuzz, and Apache followed as did the special guests. By far the highlight for me was seeing Californian Alex Greenwald crowd surf mid-way through his performance of Just. It was truly entertaining, especially since he continued to sing the lyrics while being suspended in mid air. The crowd doing their best to make sure that Greenwald made it back to the stage in one piece. Following Just, Greenwald performed Phantom Planet’s most commercially successful tune California. The single, recognised to many as the O.C’s theme song evoked more participation with what seemed the whole crowd belting out the chorus “California here we come” in unison.

The two songs, Valerie and Stop Me rounded off the high energy set. Merriweather’s version of the classic Smiths song brought all the special guests back to the stage in a final sing along. All in all it was a highly entertaining set by Ronson and the Version Players and the performance made me forget temporarily that my fingers and toes were numb from the cold.

Judging by the enthusiasm of the crowd, this festival will become a permanent fixture, and will be yet another summer festival that you need to mark on your calendar and start saving for. The venue was ideal, let’s just hope that Mother Nature will be kinder to us next year.