A bevy of Brisbane’s best put on a show to remember, and all in support of a good cause too, raising $90 000 to support the victims of the Victorian bushfires, and the North Queensland floods.

Solo troubador Dan Parsons is up first, and gets a pretty favourable response from a crowd that is mostly here to see the later acts. New song I Can’t Watch You has echoes of Darren Hanlon, as do many of his songs – Parsons would have been perfect for the now defunct Candle Records. Unfortunately Parsons’ delicate plucking is undone by the loud volume, and a sound setup presumably ready for tonight’s headliners. In the end though, he puts together a good if not particularly memorably set, and gets warm thanks from the audience.

The 1-2 punch of Brisbane indie pop, The Boat People and The John Steel Singers, are up next. The more straightforward of the two, the Boaties keep it uptempo, even through slow burner As If I Could. The crowd isn’t too excited, at least until they get a chance to clap along to Born In The 80’s, and James O’Brien rushes off stage to grab his trusty kazoo. They wrap up their set with big single Awkward Orchid Orchard, and the night gets an early highlight when they segue the bridge into a speed rock version of Ratcat’s iconic Don’t Go Now – talk about wearing your influences on your sleeve.

The six members of The John Steel Singers prefer a more art-school approach to their pop rock, but their slow start is hampered by the previous mention rough sound setup, which causes the bass to trample all over the intro. Nevertheless they attack their set with gusto, flashing through numbers from their The Beagle And The Dove and In Colour EPs. Rainbow Kraut and Luxembourg both get big cheers from the crowd, but it’s set closer, the party pop-rock anthem Evolution, which gets everyone dancing along, and people come out from side of stage to dance along.

Of course, you can’t have a conversation about Brisbane indie-pop without mentioning the Go Betweens, but I was wondering whether a solo set from Robert Forster might take some of the wind out of tonight’s sails. But these concerns are quickly alaid by the presence of the John Steel Singers as a backing band for Forster. For his part, Forster keeps the banter and fuss to a minimum, playing solidly through his set, which is a mix of Go Betweens songs – Spring Rain and The Old Way Out, played by a seven piece, have never sounded so good – and tracks from his new solo album The Evangelist. The John Steel Singers look pretty happy to join a legend up on stage, but it gets even better for them from there. “Ed Keupper joined the Bad Seeds, I’m joining the John Steel Singers!” declares Forster, before launching into JSS’s award winning Strawberry Wine (which was conspicuously absent from their own set). JSS frontman Luke McDonald is so geeked out by this moment that he nearly forgets to do his backing harmonies, and Forster can’t quite hit the falsetto in the chorus, but it’s still a very special moment. Anyone who didn’t cheer wildly needs to get themselve a Bris-music education, and fast.

The last time The Grates played in Brisbane, Patience found herself sitting down for the duration of the set, much to her chagrin. So it’s great to see her up and about tonight, with her newly blonded hair and white outfit. Unfortunately, the sound system is still not up to scratch, with *John’*s guitar work sounding messier than ever. With their short, sharp pop rock songs, The Grates are able to flash through heaps of tracks in their shortened set. The bouncy Trampoline and the ribbon-twirling Rock Boys sit perfectly alongside newer songs Two Kinds Of Right, Carve Your Name and Milk Eyes. But tonight’s performance feels a little loose, and even the crowd doesnt really get into it until the punchy 19 20 20 and Burn Bridges threaten to bring the house down. Tonight was far from The Grates’ best work, but the goodwill of a crowd who are out and about to support a good cause carried them through.

Of course, there’s no goodwill required for tonight’s headliner. When you strip away the hottest 100 wins, and the ARIA awards, and all the bullshit that goes along with those things, Powderfinger are at heart a really good, guitar-driven five piece, with a charismatic frontman whose vocals play to his strengths. And their live show tends to exemplify that bare bones package – there’s no theatrics, no grand symbolic gestures in their set tonight. They rip out Baby I’ve Got You On My Mind and Bless My Soul by way of introduction, as if the sold out crowd needed it. It’s been a while since they played, but there’s no cobwebs in this system – Ian Haug and Darren Middleton look as natural as ever, interplaying their guitar riffs with ease. The set picks tracks from across the Powderfinger catalogue, with older fans getting a rare chance to sing along to DAF.

Bizarrely, Private Man is the only Internationalist track to make the cut, sitting alongside Vulture Street ’s Love Your Way and Sunsets. We also get a couple of new tracks from the forthcoming album, one acoustic-driven track and one more rocky number, and after the first one, Bernard Fanning quips “That’ll be on Twitter in fifteen minutes.”. The whole crowd sings along to My Happiness and Not My Kinda Scene, and Fanning reports that tonight’s gig has raised over $90 000 for the benefit funds, which is pretty good for a hastily arranged gig with only two weeks preparation. For a finale, the band invite all of tonight’s performers to join them on stage, as Middleton leads a rendition of The Beatles’ Carry That Weight. Even though none of the bands tonight have put on their best performances, the good will and good karma fill the room to make this a night to remember.