After slaying Splendour in The Grass on the weekend, Mark Ronson and his entourage of musical guests graced Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on Wednesday night.
The night opened with two hours of support slots from Jones Jr and Yolanda Be Cool to Tkay Maidza and Pond and the crowd was slow to appear at the venue. It was disappointing considering the acts were chosen by Ronson himself in order to promote what he believes are the freshest and most underrated of recent Australian acts.
It was particularly disappointing to see so few in the audience for the night’s opener, Jones Jr. The soul and hip-hop collaboration of DJ Morgs from Thundamentals and singer Ev Jones, whose raspy, soulful vocals were worthy of more than just a few dozen spectators.
Adelaide’s Tkay Maidza got the night into full swing. Each one of her songs was met with warm applause from the crowd, whilst Pond’s tight setlist spanned their six-album discography.
“It’s been a hectic week and it’s all Ronson’s fault, all Rondog’s fault! You’re gonna have a blast tonight,” Pond’s Nick Allbrook and Jay Watson told the crowd as they closed their support slot.
As the lights dimmed, the crowd erupted with surprise as the opening song of the classic ’90s TV show Round The Twist filled the arena.
Arriving on stage with his six-piece band, Ronson smashed through his Mystikal collaboration ‘Feel Right’ from Uptown Special and older classics ‘Bang Bang Bang’ (with guest vocals from Melbourne’s Ella Thompson) and ‘The Bike Song’, with Kyle Falconer guesting on vocals.
The guest appearances continued, with Theophilus London (introduced by Ronson as “the man behind Kanye West’s ‘All Day'”) performing his track ‘Tribe’ and Melbournian Daniel Merriweather surprising his hometown.
“I first came to Australia because I heard Daniel’s voice online and thought it was incredible and we ended up playing a show at The Prince of Wales,” Ronson reminisced between ‘Stop Me’ and ‘Change’.
“I can’t believe we’re playing in a venue with the word ‘arena’ in the name! And I don’t mean to get goofy and sentimental, but this is the only place we get to do these big shows and it means a lot so thank you!” continued Ronson.
The set was taken up a notch when Kevin Parker of Tame Impala and Kirin J Callinan took to the stage, performing their three Uptown Special collaborations, with ‘Daffodils’ a significant highlight of the night. The bass rippled through the venue and Callinan’s sassy guitar moves proved intriguing to watch.
The quality of the set continued with Andrew Wyatt from Miike Snow commanding the stage for ‘An Animal’, ‘Heavy Rolling’, and ‘Somebody To Love’, another crowd favourite which lead to Ronson claim that he’s “never heard people sing our songs back so loudly!”
The singalong continued until the end with the final songs – ‘Valerie’ and ‘Uptown Funk’. Speaking on his choice to use Amy Winehouse’s original vocals in ‘Valerie’ rather than call on a guest he explained, “What we’ve been doing is playing Amy’s original vocals and it’s not a sad thing, it’s a celebration. Her voice is going to last generations.”
It was a truly heartwarming sight to see the audience happily belt out the lyrics, celebrating the wonderful talent that Amy Winehouse was. A week on since the fourth anniversary of Winehouse’s death, it was a beautiful way for Ronson remember and celebrate his late friend.
Returning to the stage for ‘Uptown Funk’, which went eight times platinum in Australia (the highest global record), the night ended on a huge high.
“Thank-you guys for making it such a fucking memorable one for us and singing along. Seeing all of you guys is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen at one of our shows,” Ronson told the crowd.
“So, when this beat drops, we’re gonna lose our shit and have a good time!” And, as each of Ronson’s guests joined him on stage for the last time, each performer and crowd member did just that.
