A Day On The Green @ Peter Lehmann Wines, Tanunda SA 2/11/2024
Top day for it to be in the heart of the Barossa Valley at Peter Lehmann Wines for the first of the A Day On The Green’s for this season featuring a stellar cast including Take That, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Rickie-Lee and DACY. With the temperature peaking in the mid thirties we could not have asked for any better in this picturesque setting. I do have to say that the walk from the car park in to the venue was a killer and really did highlight a note to self to improve my fitness. Nevertheless, it was a great day filled with great music, wine, food and great times.
Brother and sister combo, Jack and Ruby Dacy, are DACY and eased fans in to the swing of things at A Day On The Green. Their music is a unique blend of pop, folk and R&B and was the perfect tonic to get the day started. There was already a big crowd there early to stake out their claim on a good viewing point in the GA section which continued to build by the end of their set. Set highlights included She Wants To Be Loved and Don’t You Think It’s Funny but its the mash up of some popular covers I Want It That Way/ Spinning Around and Get Down On It that stood out.
Rickie-Lee with her band entertained and played an energetic set that featured a swag of songs from her career to date as well as a few given the Rickie-Lee touch up. It was hot and even after set opener On My Own Rickie-Lee started singing “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes” suggesting doing that she might get arrested but the excitable crowd continued singing it. New tune Ghost was fantastic but it was when she ventured back in to more familiar territory with Sunshine and Australian Idol audition song Don’t Let Go (En Vogue) that proved popular. Touting the next one as the greatest song of all time and saying “bite me if you don’t think so, but you won’t” barrelling through Tina Turner’s Simply The Best. It got some of the crowd up, dancing and singing as loud as they could.
Covers were the flavour in her set with I Will Survive followed a different take on the Kiss classic I Was Made For Lovin’ You. There was a nod to the past in Young Divas playing This Time I Know It Is For Real which morphed in to It’s Raining Men. Ricki-Lee brought plenty of energy and vibrancy to A Day On The Green finishing on Can’t Touch It, Do It Like That and Raining Diamonds.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor brought plenty of sizzle to A Day On The Green and transformed A Day On The Green in to a massive dance floor. I think there were a few waiting for this and to be able to get up and cut loose. Seriously elite and she well and truly owned it proving beyond doubt that she’s her own show and not just a support act. Walking out to stage making the statement “this is the place” and indeed it was opening with Crying At The Discotheque. Take Me Home followed and Sophie spoke about the last couple of days in Adelaide being a bit “bonkers” having being at the Christmas Pageant and celebrating Halloween a couple of days earlier. She was super clear that her mission was to get everyone ready for Take That. Music Gets The Best Of Me was awesome and “moving our relationship to the next bit” it was the rave like revelry of Hypnotized which was described like ABBA on crack.
Asking the crowd to clear their throat and get ready to sing-a-long to Get Over You keeping that good time vibe happening on the medley of Lady (Hear Me Tonight) / Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) / Can’t Fight This Feeling / Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)… this was a great moment. Getting “a bit more serious and taking you to church” with a scintillating cover of Madonna’s Like A Prayer was a winner. Suggesting that she was not done and wanting to turn this winery in to a stadium it is Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) that kicked it up a notch. Being a bit like Mary Poppins she said her job was done and as Murder On The Dancefloor started everyone was up, singing and dancing once more. Definitely one of the A Day On The Green magic moments for the highlights reel.
As the sun had set that meant only one thing which is the main act and the one who we were here for being Take That. There was a sense of anticipation and excitement in the break which became fever pitch when the trio Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald emerged from the top of the stairs to much fanfare as Greatest Day was first up. Barlow making the statement “what a beautiful place we are in” then saying to “walk tall and pull your shoulders back” heralding the start to Giants. There was a brief moment where Owen started reading out the banners before taking on “90s classic” Everything Changes followed by Shine. Take That have been coming to Australia since 1993 and said several times throughout that they always very so welcome.
One of the songs that started it all A Million Love Songs went down a treat. Describing themselves as the “all singing, all dancing extravaganza to take over the world” as those lads from Manchester who weren’t “The Happy Mondays or The Smiths” it was a kind of trip down memory lane taking fans through the history of the band, reflecting on the good times and going their separate ways. I Found Heaven, Pray and Bee Gees cover How Deep Is Your Love? were all good moments. Recreating the phone call when Mark said how about we get the band together and that time point was the single Patience (the first without Robbie Williams). The journey continued with The Flood from 2010s Progress up to 2014 when they came back as a three piece with the aptly titled III featuring Get Ready For It.
Their band are a tight unit and the production was top shelf all things considered. The journey took fans right up to the now with Windows from last year’s album This Life. Previewing some of the local produce some lucky fans at the front were recipients of the spoils from Mark’s shopping trip. This Life featured and Relight My Fire was another good ‘un. With mobile phone lights switched on the trio got in and amongst the crowd during Hold Up A Light. There would have very few who could walk away disappointed after this experience with Gary, Mark and Howard finishing in a blaze of glory on Back For Good, Never Forget and Rule The World. With a promise to return sometime soon there was plenty to reflect on with what seemed like an epic long walk back to the car park then the craziness to get homeward bound.
Live Review By Rob Lyon