Make Poverty History Concert @The Showgrounds (02/07/07)

Sun 8th Jul, 2007 in Gig Reviews

There is no doubting the need to rally behind and support the Make Poverty History cause. Already strong personalities such as Bono from U2 and Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam have been strong leaders in pushing politicians to do more to end this problem.

The idea of a road trip travelling through Australia with youth ambassadors to spread the message of ‘07 and lead the charge with the Make Poverty History message is honourable. Backed by a concert to reinforce the key themes and empower people to get serious and be spurred in to action is commendable also.

Where did things come undone?

It’s hard to fault the spirit and intention of those involved in running this event but overall it was a real dog’s breakfast leaning more towards a disaster. The lack of publicity to support an event of such importance was clearly lacking and to stage a mini festival on a Monday doesn’t show great forward planning. When tickets are being offered as a two for one deal that should sound alarm bells I would have thought. The idea was there, the support was also there it all came down to the fact that not enough people knew about the concert.

This event should have attracted a minimum sized crowd of at least four to five thousand people to have any real impact instead of a measly three hundred or so who did turn up. Maybe it was the clear lack of talent on show to make it worth while to turn up. I find it hard to gather ny inspiration from the likes of Guy Sebastian or any of the b-grade acts on the bill. For the pimply teenagers down the front I wonder how serious about the Make Poverty History messages being promoted. It was unfortunate that they were preaching to the converted with a large part of the crowd being part of the group travelling to Sydney on the road trip.

On a night with very few highlights it was the barnstorming efforts of Room One that stole the show. The winners of the previous nights battle of the bands competition run in conjunction with this event held themselves well being first on stage. They are a class act in terms of performance and were streaks ahead of the others on the night. Guy Sebastian didn’t impress but played his well known songs to the screaming teenage girls who had pushed through to the front to see their hero. Dukes Of Windsor didn’t really suit the event with many of the crowd moving out when Guy had finished and they came on. There seemed to be a number of Bliss – œn Eso fans in the hall but being a Monday night and with many of the crowd having left to go home they did not really inspire.

A great idea and and extremely important cause for all of us to get behind. You cannot really fault the organisers in their passion and organisation of the event itself. It’s just a pity that it was held on a cold Monday night with no real headlining act and not enough publicity to pull a crowd to see the musicians organised to play at the event.

Make Poverty History Concert Photo Gallery