There were picnic blankets and umbrellas alike at the Riverstage on Sunday afternoon for Brisbane’s round of A Day on the Green. Despite light rain early in the afternoon, thousands of music lovers headed to the Riverstage armed with picnic blankets and snacks.
The afternoon kicked off with a lazy, uneventful set from Tex Perkins and Tim Rogers. Most of the crowd seemed to ignore the uninspired set and the duo proved to be little more than background noise. Before too long, the sun started to shine and Sarah Blasko hit the stage and took things up a notch.
Blasko played a strong set with a mix of tunes from both of her albums. Don’t U Eva seemed to be the crowd favourite. Blasko funked her way around the stage and chatted happily to the crowd about her recent bout of food poisoning and her plans to hit the food vans for a corn on the cob. Sarah Blasko isn’t entirely suited to such a large crowd, and despite performing a great set, the crowd seemed to be unimpressed, with only the die hard fans paying attention.
Tim Finn proved he still has what it takes when he opened a fantastic set with the Crowded House hit Weather With You. What followed was a mixed set of his own solo work and well-known Split Endz and Crowded House hits. Tim stopped to chat to the crowd about the love of his life, causing quite a bit of gushing before performing a heart warming performance of It’s Only Natural.
The highlight of his set and the entire evening was his finishing version of I See Red which drove the crowd into a sing-along. Tim Finn gyrated and danced his way across the stage and steadfastly reminded us all of why we love Crowded House so damn much.
Pete Murray was solid. His set was tight and musically impressive but overall something was lacking. Suprisingly Pete left smash hit So Beautiful out of his set, instead choosing to cover Cold Chisel and perform quite a few tracks from his latest album. Crowd favourite was definitely Opportunity as everyone seemed to sing along in a feel good fashion. Pete managed to have a few jibes at his sister before pulling her up on stage for a duet.
The evening finished with Pete doing a cover of Chisel favourite Forever Now . This forced the crowd to their feet as everyone danced and sang along, marking the end of a great night. Overall, A Day on the Green wasn’t the most remarkable festival but it certainly was a fantastic laidback Sunday afternoon filled with great music and even better food.
