Above: (l to r) and featured image: Electric Field’s Zaachariaha Fielding with Michael Ross
Joyous performance has no genre. Collaboration between musicians from many styles is now thankfully in vogue and cultural exchange currently has no imminent coda.
SSO’s busy and diverse 2024 offering is not over yet. The contemporary strand of out local orchestra’s offering always is packaged and performed with maximum impact. This packaging includes lighting design by Matthew Tunchon and Silver Bullet Projects and amazing collaborations with stars of non-‘classical’ genres.
These entertainment packages endear audiences old and new to what the Sydney Opera House and SSO have got offer for quality musical exchange and a good night out.
This collaboration with Electric Fields was no exception. Once again the orchestral arrangements by Alex Turley and also a track arranged by Mark Ferguson were a seamless success, full of excellent gesture and extension of the group’s already loved impact.
Lead singer Zaachariaha Fielding encouraged listeners to leave the comfort zone of the Opera House Concert Hall seating and stand gig-style to dance often. Lighting effects were once more super effective and the crowd had phones out to rejoice in the exciting, transformed space.
Australians invited to perform at Eurovision have been a stellar line-up: Guy Sebastian, Isaiah Firebrace, Jessica Mauboy, Kate Miller-Heidke, Montaigne, Sheldon Riley and Voyager in past years.
In 2024, it was Electric Fields’ turn to offer a song up from Down Under. Extremely excellent musical and cultural ambassadors, their contribution, in inimitable pop-synth, ancient language style was with the song One Milkali -in English and Yankunytjatjara dialect, a tribute to vocalist Zaachariaha Fielding’s community of Mimili in South Australia.
This song featured in the second half of the event with SSO, with the crowd instantly jumping to its feet in the Concert Hall space, following Fielding’s early urgings to get people out of the designer seats and up moving to the music.
Above: Vanessa Scammell conducted SSO during this concert.
SSO added superb and svelte depth to this famous track and to all in the selection, led with clear energy by conductor Vanessa Scammell. The overture to this popular group’s arrival on the stage growled with atmosphere, showing off the evocative skill of our local band in collaboration mode.
Electric Fields, decked out in successful bespoke designer outfits looked stunning and totally owned the space in their genuine, excitable, capable fashion. Helping them deliver music ranging from the tender tracks such as Tjitjiti Lullaby to more dance tracks were five special guest vocalists. Two singers from community, Sandra Pumani and Zaavan Fielding shared songlines, in what Zaachariaha described during another audience participation moment as ‘one of the oldest languages in this country’.
These Antara Singers and Zaachariaha concluded the main set prior to encore with a stirring rendition of Antara Maau Kutjpa.
A slick trio of back up vocalists (Belle, AJ and Dyagula) also filled out the texture throughout, joined when invited by the electric energy of the fanbase assembled here.
The 75-minute set without interval included great playing, nice personal comment a groove from keyboardist, vocalist, producer and fashionista in his Opera House bling, Michael Ross.
The core duo of Electric Fields were on fire here, commanding this space, our hearts and smoothly collaborating with the orchestra and other vocalists on stage. The inclusion of From Little Things Big Things Grow, heard first in the 90s from Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody. It was a fine tribute to an Australian songrwriting classic, an excellent cover version and touching audience singalong moment.
The inclusion later in the set of Electric Field’s significant hit, 2000 And Whatever was another worthwhile inclusion and popular moment with the fanbase old and new in this band or group-plus-orchestra mode.
Electric Fields’ firm place in our music identity made the concert with SSO very relevant and special to joint and national music making. Songs in English and First Nations language, so well produced and performed, were the building blocks of a new, continued musical exchange. It was the sort of joyous collaboration for regular fans of the orchestra and of Electric Fields plus audience new to one or both.
This was perfect fare with which to augment SSO’s yearly programme. It resonated with sentiment and stylistic exchange that any local or Australian stage needs now and in the future.
