Mount Gambier’s CBD was filled with the sounds of an award-winning Australian performer on Saturday night.
Tones and I performed two intimate shows in the Jens Hotel car park following a strong showing of community support that convinced her to bring her concerts to the Blue Lake city.
After tickets instantly sold out for her 7pm show, the popular songstress added a 4pm concert much to the delight of the hundreds watching on.
Tones and I said Mount Gambier was the first to create a Facebook page encouraging her to visit and perform, with others towns following with hundreds of similar pages now appearing.
Jens Hotel and Globe Hotel’s Aaron Davis said while “Mount Gambier is a lovely place to live, it is just a terrible place to try and run an event”.
“The weather was really good in the afternoon, obviously we were in the hands of Mother Nature all day, so it did rain at night time,” he said.
“The 4pm show probably had a good 100 people sitting in Coles listening.
“She was not supposed to start until later at night, but we just got her to come on at 7.30pm so just actually trying to get away from the rain.
“You do not get these people rock up on your doorstep very often, so it was good for Mount Gambier.
“It was so good to see the centre of the town just absolutely buzzing with people and it’s where a lot of the shows should all be.
“I’m proud of all the staff and everyone that chipped in.”
The 4pm show started in the sunshine with over 400 people in attendance which mainly comprised families.
Tones and I started her 40 minute set for the first show by allowing children to ask questions and handed out personalised bracelets throughout her performance.
Her set started with ‘Cloudy Day’ followed by a cover of ‘Forever Young’ by Alphaville.
Due to the crowd’s request, she played an acoustic version of ‘Bad Child’ and invited young fan Sophie on stage to sing it with her.
She sang ‘Sorrento’ from her new album which was a tribute to her late grandpa followed by her first ever released song ‘Johnny Ran Away’.
Tones and I then finished up with ‘Fly Away’, ‘Dreaming’ and her hit song ‘Dance Monkey’ which topped the charts in 38 countries and is currently the most streamed song of all time by a solo female artist on Spotify.
During ‘Dance Monkey’ Tones and I got young fan Emma up on stage to throw the remainder of the bracelets into the crowd.
Tones and I told the crowd she visited the “Blue Waterhole” (Blue Lake) which was welcomed by laughter from the crowd.
The 7pm show saw a larger crowd of nearly 900 people, with many also attending the official Tones and I Afterparty at the Globe Hotel.
