10th November 2019
“A Day on the Green” Leconfield Wines McLaren Vale SA
Rob Thomas
Great music, beautiful surroundings and excellent wines – what more could you want on a sunny afternoon and that’s exactly what it was last Sunday at Leconfield Wines for “A day on the Green”
American singer songwriter Rob Thomas was the headline act along with Aussie singer-songwriters Pete Murray and Russell Morris and emerging Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter Emily Wurramara.
Due to unforeseen circumstances we missed seeing Russell Morris and Emily Wurramara, but by all accounts they were great…we arrived just as Pete Murray got on stage with his band.
Pete Murray is a favourite of Australian audiences because what you see is what you get and he writes songs with meaning and heart. He sung “So Beautiful” and “Bail me Out” and it wasn’t long before he had the crowd on their feet singing along the words to “Opportunity” and “Better Days”. Pete Murray has toured before with Rob Thomas and they are apparently good friends and Pete Murray couldn’t stop telling the audience what a great guy Rob Thomas is “I thought I was a nice guy but Rob Thomas is a fantastic guy” he quipped and told the crowd they were going to love Rob Thomas tonight.
Pete Murray has spoken in the past about writing a song with Rob Thomas so we’re all looking forward to what may come of that but in the meantime everyone was looking forward to Rob Thomas and his band and after a 20 minute break (enough time to purchase an excellent bottle of Richard Hamilton Sauvignon Blanc) Rob Thomas burst onto the stage full of energy with his band and backing singers and the crowd was on their feet.
Rob Thomas opened with “Mockingbird” “Lonely No more” and “Her Diamonds” and the Matchbox 20 hit “if you’re Gone”. He was happy to cover the full length of the stage going to the far corners on a couple of occasions to the delight of the crowd. By this time the sun was beginning to set and a chill was in the air but Rob Thomas energy levels were high even coming off stage at one point to go into the reserved seating area and mingle with the fans…on returning back on stage he remarked “I’m not sure what happened down there in the crowd but I think I’m pregnant!”
It was great to hear Rob Thomas thoughts on life and interesting to hear his thinking behind some of the lyrics of his songs….before singing “heaven Help Me” from his 2015 album “The Great Unknown” he revealed that at 47 years of age although “I’m a Rockstar, I don’t seem to have the recovery of a Rockstar that I used to have and I realised this fact in a shocking way on a few occasions so I wrote this song”
He also thanked “Adelaide” for the great reception he received and the fantastic weather we turned on for him….”there’s a lot of sh@t happening back home right now (politically) so it’s great to be here!”
The night continued with everyone enjoying the balmy night and on their feet with more of Mr Thomas’ hits including “Street Corner Symphony” “Little Wonders” and then a cover of David Bowies “Let’s Dance” and Rob Thomas was literally jumping and bouncing around the stage like a teenager! But it was the band that seemingly got a rest break as Rob Thomas continued on stage alone with his acoustic guitar singing his Matchbox 20 hit “3am” then “Ever the Same” and “Someday” from his “Cradlesong” album and the emotion really coming out in his voice.
The band then returned back on stage with Rob Thomas belting out “I am an Illusion” from his “Something to Be” album including an awesome guitar riff from his lead guitarist and then song he wrote for Santana – “Smooth” which he then stopped midway to tell a little story about his friendship with Carlos Santana and the importance of showing gratitude.
He then remarked about the diversity of the audience…”I see people 7 to 70, mothers and daughters and fathers and sons and brothers and sisters, all coming together to enjoy my music and to have a good time and I want to say thank you” and the appreciative audience showed their appreciation in return.
Rob Thomas and the band closed the night with “This is how a heart breaks” and so a great night of entertainment was over.
Rob Thomas and his band were fantastic and Rob Thomas obviously loves touring and coming to Australia having been here again only a couple of years ago and whether you were in the reserved seating or on a picnic rug in general admission it seemed everyone had a great time.
If you haven’t been to Leconfield Wines for A Day on the Green do yourself a favour and come along next time but perhaps venue organizers could provide some parking attendants to direct cars out of the car park in a more orderly manner as it was chaos trying to get out after the event.
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