Fire Fight Australia
Fire Fight Australia was a fundraising benefit concert held on Sunday, 16 February 2020, as a means for raising funds for the national bushfire relief following the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, known as the 'Black Summer'.[1] It was held at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Australia. It ran for 10 hours and was broadcast live on television by the Seven Network and Foxtel. A related album by various artists, Artists Unite for Fire Fight: Concert for National Bushfire Relief was released by Sony in March.[2]
| Fire Fight Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Pop, Hip-Hop and Rock music |
| Dates | 16 February 2020 |
| Location(s) | ANZ Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| Years active | 2020 |
| Attendance | 75,000 |
| Website | Official website |
Funds raised
The event was mainly organised by the Australian music industry spearheaded by Paul Dainty and the TEG Dainty music group. They aimed to keep the overhead costs as low as possible so that as much profit as possible would go the affiliated charities. Almost all of these costs were waived or heavily discounted.
Affiliated charities
Performers and set list
- Celeste Barber (MC)
- Lee Kernaghan – "Backroad Nation", "Ute Me", "Where I Wanna Be", "Spirit of the Anzacs"
- Conrad Sewell – "Start Again", "Remind Me", "Changing", "Healing Hands"
- Baker Boy – "Meditjin", "Cool as Hell", "Mr La Di Da Di", "Marryuna"
- Daryl Braithwaite – "As the Days Go By", "One Summer", "The Horses"
- Pete Murray – "Opportunity", "Better Days", "So Beautiful", "Feeler"
- Grinspoon – "Chemical Heart", "Just Ace", "Lost Control", "Hard Act to Follow"
- Jessica Mauboy – "Saturday Night", "Can I Get a Moment?", "Sunday", "We Got Love"
- Illy – "Then What", "Catch 22" (with Thandi Phoenix), "Last Laugh", "Papercuts"
- Guy Sebastian – "Bloodstone", "Before I Go", "Battle Scars", "Choir"
- Peking Duk – "Stranger", "Say My Name", "Take Me Over", "High"
- Delta Goodrem – "I Am Australian", "Born to Try", "Let It Rain", "Sitting on Top of the World", "In This Life", "Lost Without You", "Wings"
- Ronan Keating – "Lovin' Each Day", "When You Say Nothing at All", "Life Is a Rollercoaster"
- Tina Arena – "The Machine's Breaking Down", "Chains", "Heaven Help My Heart", "Boys in Town"
- Alice Cooper – "Department of Youth", "I'm Eighteen", "Poison", "School's Out", "Another Brick in the Wall"
- Amy Shark – "Adore", "All Loved Up", "Mess Her Up", "I Said Hi"
- 5 Seconds of Summer – "She Looks So Perfect", "Easier", "No Shame", "Want You Back", "Youngblood"
- Queen + Adam Lambert – recreated Queen's Live Aid performance[4] with "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Radio Ga Ga", Freddie Mercury's call and response vocal interlude (with footage and audio of Mercury taken from Queen's 1986 live performance at Wembley Stadium on screen), "Hammer to Fall", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "We Will Rock You", "We Are the Champions"
- Michael Bublé (live cross from Rod Laver Arena) – "Sway", "Such a Night", "Fly Me to the Moon"
- Hilltop Hoods – "Leave Me Lonely", "Exit Sign" (with Illy, Ecca Vandal), "Clark Griswold" (with Adrian Eagle), "1955" (with Montaigne), "Cosby Sweater"
- k.d. lang – "The Valley", "Hallelujah"
- Icehouse and William Barton – "Great Southern Land", "Electric Blue", "We Can Get Together"
- John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John – "Age of Reason", "Pressure Down", "Two Strong Hearts", "That's Freedom", "You're the Voice" (with Mitch Tambo on vocals, Allan Mackenzie on didgeridoo and Brian May on rhythm guitar)
Reception
The concert was the most watched program of the night on Australia's free to air multi channels and subscription channels, and the fourth most watched program overall, peaking at 4.7 million viewers.[5]
Artists Unite for Fire Fight
| Artists Unite for Fire Fight: Concert for National Bushfire Relief | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Live album by Various Artists | |
| Released | 13 March 2020 |
| Recorded | 16 February 2020 |
| Venue | ANZ Stadium, Sydney |
| Length | 97:00 |
| Label | Sony Music Australia |
A live charity album was released on 13 March 2020 by Sony Music Australia.[6] The album was not released on streaming sites as a way to boost the funds raised. The album debuted at number one on the ARIA albums chart.[7] Audio from Queen + Adam Lambert's setlist were included on their 2020 album Live Around the World
Track listing
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ute Me" | Lee Kernaghan | 3:12 |
| 2. | "Healing Hands" | Conrad Sewell | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Cool as Hell" | Baker Boy | 3:51 |
| 4. | "As the Days Go By" | Daryl Braithwaite | 5:51 |
| 5. | "Feeler" | Pete Murray | 4:20 |
| 6. | "Chemical Heart" | Grinspoon | 4:26 |
| 7. | "Saturday Night" | Jessica Mauboy | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Last Laugh" | Illy | 2:29 |
| 9. | "Before I Go" | Guy Sebastian | 4:07 |
| 10. | "High" | Peking Duk feat. The Baroness | 3:45 |
| 11. | "Let It Rain" | Delta Goodrem | 2:38 |
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "When You Say Nothing at All" | Ronan Keating | 4:34 |
| 2. | "Chains" | Tina Arena | 4:35 |
| 3. | "School's Out/Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2" | Alice Cooper | 5:30 |
| 4. | "I Said Hi" | Amy Shark | 3:07 |
| 5. | "Youngblood" | 5 Seconds of Summer | 6:07 |
| 6. | "Hammer to Fall" | Queen + Adam Lambert | 5:14 |
| 7. | "Such a Night" | Michael Bublé | 3:21 |
| 8. | "1955" | Hilltop Hoods feat. Montaigne | 4:11 |
| 9. | "Hallelujah" | k.d. lang | 5:59 |
| 10. | "We Can Get Together" | Icehouse feat. William Barton and Evan Davies | 3:51 |
| 11. | "Two Strong Hearts" | John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John | 3:25 |
| 12. | "You're the Voice" | John Farnham with Olivia Newton-John, Mitch Tambo and Brian May | 5:17 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2020) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] | 29 |
References
- Snow, Deborah (8 February 2020). "A summer of flame". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- Bleach, Thomas (17 March 2020). "Album Review: Artists Unite for Fire Fight". ThomasBleach. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- Stephens, Jodie; Sanda, Dominica (17 February 2020). "Fire Fight Australia concert raises almost $10 million for bushfire relief". Seven News. Seven West Media. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- Dye, Josh (16 February 2020). "Queen reprises famous 1985 Live Aid set at Fire Fight Australia concert". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- Knox, David (17 February 2020). "Sunday 16 February 2020". TV Tonight. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- "Artists Unite for Fire Fight - JB Hi-Fi". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- "Artists Unite for Fire Fight Debuts at #1". ARIA. 21 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- "Australiancharts.com – ARTISTS UNITE FOR FIRE FIGHT – Fire Fight Australia". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 15 January 2021.