John Farnham is sounding as good as ever, so is Daryl Braithwaite. When One Electric Day put them back to back One Electric Day delivered nearly three hours of continuous back to back hits.
Let’s not forget that these two guys were the biggest Australian pop stars on the 70s. Both Farnham and Braithwaite circled back to the heady pop star days for the show, John even conjured up young Johnny Farnham to perform his 1969 Nilsson cover ‘One’ for the first time in 11 years.
Daryl isn’t shy on the hits himself. He opened with his 1975 Sherbet hit ‘Summer Love’ and included Sherbet’s no 1 ‘Howzat’ and album cut ‘Blueswalkin’ in the set.
Both Daryl and John were in fine form for a couple of 68 year olds but so were their respective bands. With 69 hits between them, Farnham and Braithwaite could play all day and you’d still know every song. However, the rest of One Electric Day was given to Baby Animals, Diesel, 1927 and Reece Mastin.
Baby Animals earned their stripes when their debut album grabbed the no 1 spot of 1991 and delivered four hit singles.
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Diesel dropped his first album as Johnny Diesel and the Injectors back in 1989. He was rock then. He is blues now and songs like ‘Don’t Need Love’ and ‘Cry In Shame’ have evolved to meet the current Diesel sound.
1927 had an incredible start as well. Their debut ‘…ish’ was a number one record in 1988. Side one of the original vinyl version became a greatest hits itself with five hit songs generated from the five tracks.
One Electric Day works because it takes the highest level of Australian acts and put them together in one show for an audience who may have once seen them in pubs but now with young families prefers to enjoy a day out with (or without) the kids listening to the music they grew up with.
John Farnham setlist, One Electric Day, Werribee, 26 November 2017
We Will Rock You (Queen cover)
Reasons (from Whispering Jack, 1986)
Heart’s on Fire (from Romeo’s Heart, 1996)
Chain Reaction (from Chain Reaction, 1990)
No One Comes Close (from Whispering Jack, 1986)
Love to Shine (from Whispering Jack, 1986)
Don’t You Know It’s Magic (from Hits Magic & Rock N Roll, 1972)
Age of Reason (from Age of Reason, 1988)
Two Strong Hearts (from Age of Reason, 1988)
One (from Looking Through A Tear, 1969)
Burn for You (from Chain Reaction, 1990)
Talk of the Town (from Then Again, 1993)
That’s Freedom (from Chain Reaction, 1990)
Pressure Down (from Whispering Jack, 1986)
Playing to Win (from Playing To Win, 1984)
You’re the Voice (from Whispering Jack, 1986)
A Touch of Paradise (from Whispering Jack, 1986)
It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll) (AC/DC cover)
John Farnham will headline Red Hot Summer dates with Daryl Braithwaite, Baby Animals and 1927 from 17 February 2018. Get tickets here.
Daryl Braithwaite will also headline the first international Red Hot Summer festival in Bali on 22 April 2017.
Suzi Quatro will front up for Red Hot Summer from January 6 2018 in Mulwala. Icehouse will play three shows in April.
