Steven Cummings opened the show on an acoustic guitar playing five songs and finished with “Who Listens To The Radio” as well as playing “Don’t Throw Stones”. This was followed by a full set by Joe Camileri and the Black Sorrows. The Black Sorrows (minus Vika and Linda Bull) opened with “The Chosen One” followed by the unforgetable “Hold On To Me”. The Next song was the cool “Ain’t Love The Strangest Thing” and “”Come On, Come On”. The song that really impressed the audience was “Harley And Rose”. “Shape I’m In” was the other highlight of The Black Sorrows set and “Somebody’s Gotta Love Somebody Sometime” before finishing with an old blues number. My only small criticism was the ending number. The Black Sorrows can put on a great performance and on a whole however the final number is normally the high note that the band leaves the audience on, and this was not the most uplifting number. A slight set placement adjustment would fix the problem and leave everyone feeling happy, I feel. The final set of the night belonged to Ross Wilson who opened with “Bed Of Nails”. By “Come Back Again”, which was the third song in the set, it was visible that Ross had the audience in the palm of his hand. After “Time Destroys (as well as heals)” Ross dedicated “World’s Got Everything In It” to longtime dedicated fans Yvonne and Glen. John McAll put on an impressive performance on Grand Piano during “Baby Let Me Bang Your Box”. After an amazing version of “Hi Honey Ho” was a new song, “Take Your Time”. Ross is working on a new album that is coming out next year sometime on a major label. Watch this space for more details soon. A live treat, “Mood Swing” was followed by Daddy Cool song “Hey Sinorita”. Three members of Mondo Rock were present that night (keyboardist James Black played with The Black Sorrows) and mondo rock numbers “Summer Of 81” lifted the roof as did the instantly recognizable “Cool World”. “Come Said The Boy” had everyone clapping along and the set was finished with “Eagle Rock” . . . at least until the Ross, as the only performer to be asked for an encore performance, came back out to the delight of the audience for the moving “State Of The Heart” which actually reduced some members of the audience in tears. The last song of the night was the upbeat “Daddy Cool” which had the audience dancing and clapping along. The ARIAS were on a few weeks ago, congratulations to all the winners and to Jim Barnes on his Hall Of Fame induction. I’d also like to congratulate Neil Finn for that touching performance of “Better Be Home Soon” dedicated to Paul Hester and the lovely tribute the organizers arranged. The audience participation was also fitting, everyone on the audience seemed to know the words and want to sing along with Neil, if they were able to. Well done to all involved for a fitting tribute to someone that will is sorely missed by friends and fans alike. 20 to one . . . . It was good in all, however I have a few small gripes. Although Crowded House lead singer Neil Finn is a New Zealander, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester were both Australians, and thus it is unnecessary to describe Crowded House as a New Zealand band that Australia claimed. Autraliana by Austin tatious is good, however, technically it’s not a song (and when Billy Thorpe and Spectrum miss out for a spoken poem, you have to start asking questions!) Another thing, Kylie Minouge was put at number 7 whereas “Shout” by JO’K was at number twenty. O’Keefe pioneered Australian rock music, when Col and Johnny started out there was no industry, the ground rules on what to do and what not to do was set by them. Shout is still Performed by many a great artist today and has more longevity than I think Locomotion does. It started Kylie’s career and was a big song at the time, but in 30 years are people still going to be singing it? “Shout” has already proved its longevity and thus, should have been played lower than “Locomotion”. I also question the validity of “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia When you consider some of the acts that lost places, i.e. Joe Camileri, Paul Kelly, Masters Apprentices then “torn” pales in comparison to “Because I Love You” by Masters Apprentices, “I’ll Be Gone” by Spectrum or “Leaps And Bounds” by Paul Kelly. I also question the absence of Mondo Rock. The compilers could have done something similar to what they did with cold chisel and Jim Barnes, which was to put them on a level. I think that’s fair, mondo rock were just as good as Daddy Cool and just as big. “Come Said The Boy”, “Cool World” and “Chemistry” are all good songs, all have the longevity and play an important part in Mondo Rock’s story and will probably still be around when “torn” has gone past it’s use-by date. The last thing that really bugged me was that Down Under by men at work was at number 2 and eagle rock at number three. Don’t get me wrong, Down Under is a great song, Colin Hay is a great songwriter, however, putting Eagle Rock(the unofficial national anthem according to the likes of Wilbur Wilde, Frankie J Holden and Billy Thorpe) up higher than a song written by a Scottish guy about a man throwing up beating a song that broke chart records, inspired the likes of Elton John and is embedded deep into the hearts of Australian music as well as launching Daddy Cool, the band that made Ross Wilson famous, well it’s almost blasphemous