75,000 attended the Fire FIght Australia concert (above) while Queen’s Adam Lambert urged the fans to “keep on fighting” (below). Courtesy of Emma Rothfield/ANZ Stadium.
Behind Australia’s biggest show Arthur Stanley explains how Fire Fight Australia etched its way into Australian entertainment history “We are the champions, my friends. And we’ll keep on fighting ‘til the end.” As Adam Lambert’s voice boomed out across Sydney’s ANZ Stadium in unison with Queen legends Brian May and Roger Taylor, an entire nation joined in the chorus. After a summer of heartbreak caused by the horrific bushfires that have devastated communities across Australia, this was finally a time for unity and healing. And so, on a blessedly pleasant Sunday evening in midFebruary, dozens of Australian and international artists gave up their time to perform at the Fire Fight Australia concert in front of 75,000 fans and an international TV audience of millions, while raising more than $10 million for bushfire relief funds.
10 hours, 23 acts, 75,000 fans, a global TV audience, $10 million raised This was an event that showcased the absolute best of Australia and the nation’s fighting spirit. Comparisons were immediately made to the famous Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985 that raised millions for the Ethiopian famine, not least because Queen replicated that signature set for the first time in 35 years. 20 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 137
For more than 10 hours on Sunday 16th February, as a cavalcade of superstars performed for a pulsating ANZ Stadium crowd and TV audiences, it felt as if the world was united in its empathy for Australia’s bushfire victims. And while the concert featured some of the biggest names in the music industry, the real stars of the show were in the stands as thousands of heroic firefighters and emergency services staff joined the capacity crowd standing together with all fireaffected Australians.
