A Very Aussie Aussie Day

We had no real plan for our Australia Day long weekend up until Thursday night because I simply had not had time to think about it since work was so busy last week.

When we finally sat down to watch the Tennis on Thursday night, I happened to flick to another channel where they were playing a pre-Australia Day concert in Canberra and The Whitlams came on. Of course I had to watch because they're my ALL TIME FAVOURITE band, and right at the end, they mentioned something about playing in Sydney the next day....

What?! I googled it straight away. Apparently the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority was putting on a concert at The Rocks to celebrate Australia Day.

And it's all FREE. So our Australia Day activities were set. (Never had I been so happy to be a taxpayer.)

The line up was great. They had FIVE stages with all Aussie bands (almost as good as the BDO without the hefty price tag). We managed to catch the following...

2.30pm - Holly Throsby

A gorgeous little folk outfit with her as singer guitarist, drummer Bree Van Ryke (who also drums for Darren Hanlon) and a guy called Jens who seems to play every string instrument under the sun - double bass, cello, mandolin, banjo). There was one tense moment when a wild gust of wind blew the double bass off its stand and it toppled onto the ground - thankfully these classical instruments are tougher than they look.

4pm - Josh Pyke
Well we didn't actually watch a lot of it we were off foraging for food. He had a cool violinist.

5.30pm - Alex Lloyd

The highlight for me was definitely when they did a cover of Hallelujah and the whole crowd started singing along.

And also the very dramatic dancing by two girls very close to us throughout the entire set.

7pm - The Whitlams

I haven't seen these guys since the Easter Show last year and they were in good form. They did some of their more political songs (Blow Up The Pokies, Year Of The Rat), a few 'Aussie-flavoured' songs (Love This City, I Will Not Go Quietly, Beautiful as You) and a few of my favourites - I Make Hamburgers, Laugh In Their Faces, and Louis Burdett.

My voice was coarse by the end of the set with all the singing along and cheering.

I also wore my thongs for the occasion, ate two whole corn cobs, got sun burnt and had beer split on my foot. All in the spirit of celebrating being Australian. It was a great day.


Just a few more pics on my flickr.