For two nights over the past weekend, Pure Gold Live delivered 12 acts and 39 classic Australian songs.
What a line-up: Chocolate Starfish, Gang Gajang, Wendy Matthews, The Chantoozies, Pseudo Echo, Rose Tattoo, M-Sex, Dragon, 1927, Eurogliders, John Paul Young and Ross Wilson all on the one bill.
For the punters, Pure Gold Live was bang for the buck. To gather this much talent with bona fide hits was pure genius. Every single song performed over this four-hour was a chart hit. Of the 39 songs performed, four were number one’s and 25 Top 10 hits.
The Pure Gold Live show also flowed with the variety of acts from Chantoozies pop to Rose Tattoo hard rock. The setlist demonstrated the diversity of Australian’s music tastes but also the longevity to which these songs have endured.
Ross Wilson performed two eras of his long career with songs from Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock. Wilson’s ‘Eagle Rock’ was the oldest song of the evening and also one of Australia’s most treasured classics.
Chocolate Starfish opened the show with the most “recent” hit in the set, ‘Mountains’ clocking it at just 21 years old.
‘Pure Gold Live’ was also a reminder that life goes one with Mi-Sex featuring Steve Balbi on vocals following the death of singer Steve Gilpin in 1992 and Dragon with Mark Williams replacing Marc Hunter in 1998. Marc’s brother and Dragon co-founder and songwriter Todd Hunter keeps the Dragon legacy alive while co-founders Murray Burns and Don Martin and Colin Bayley from the early era are around to breathe new life into Mi-Sex classics.
The finale was an all-star tribute to Doc Neeson of The Angels with everyone back on stage for ‘Am I Ever Gonna See You Face Again’ and the audience (and Angry Anderson) supplying the chant ‘No way, get fucked, fuck off”.
Pure Gold Live, Melbourne, May 8, 2015 setlist
Chocolate Starfish
Mountain (no 11, 1994)
You’re So Vain (no 12, 1993)
Gang Gajang
Gimme Some Loving (no 46, 1984)
House of Cards (no 45, 1985)
Sounds of Then (no 35, 1985)
Wendy Matthews
Lets Kiss (no 14, 1991)
Token Angels (no 18, 1990)
Nobody But You (no 4, 1990)
The Chantoozies
Love The One You’re With (no 21, 1991)
Witch Queen of New Orleans (no 4, 1987)
Wanna Be Up (no 6, 1988)
Pseudo Echo
A Beat For You (no 12, 1984)
Listening (no 4, 1983)
Funky Town (no 1, 1986)
Rose Tattoo
Bad Boy For Love (no 19, 1977)
Rock and Roll Outlaw (no 68, 1978)
We Can’t Be Beaten (no 28, 1982)
Mi-Sex
But You Don’t Care (no 25, 1979)
People (no 6, 1980)
Computer Games (no 1, 1979)
Dragon
Rain (no 2, 1983)
April Sun In Cuba (no 2, 1977)
Are You Old Enough (no 1, 1978)
1927
That’s When I Think of You (no 6, 1988)
You’ll Never Know (no 15, 1989)
If I Could (no 4, 1988)
Eurogliders
Can’t Wait To See You (no 8, 1985)
We Will Together (no 7, 1985)
Heaven (no 2, 1984)
John Paul Young
Pasadena (no 16, 1972)
Love Is In The Air (no 3, 1978)
I Hate The Music (no 2, 1976)
Yesterday’s Hero (no 8, 1975)
Ross Wilson
Come Back Again (no 3, 1971)
Hi Honey Ho (no 16, 1971)
Cool World (no 8, 1981)
Come Said The Boy (no 2, 1983)
Eagle Rock (no 1, 1971)
Everyone
Am I Ever Gonna See You Face Again (no 58, 1976 and no 11, 1988)
The next event is branded Solid Gold Live, on May 30 in Wollongong. Artists to appear at Solid Gold Live are Pseudo Echo, John Paul Young, 1927, Allnighters, Rose Tattoo, Gang Gajang, Mi-Sex, Wendy Matthews and Swanee.
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