Nine’s Sounds Better Together live music celebration draws 281,000 metro viewers

Nine’s Saturday evening (January 30) music special Sounds Better Together drew 281,000 overnight metro viewers, according to measurement company OzTAM.

It ranked #11 for the night, and #3 for shows not covering news, current affairs and sports.

The highest-ranked program of the night, Seven News, had 729,000 metro viewers, while in entertainment, a repeat of the ABC's Midsomer Murders had 418,000.

Sounds Better Together was the latest collaboration between Mushroom Group, Nine Network and the Victorian Government (in this case Visit Victoria) to put the state’s musicians, venues and road crews to work and to remind middle Australia how great local music can be.

Segments came from eight shows around Victoria (complete with Getaway-type plugs for regional tourist draws and music venues) as well as a beam from the Mallacoota Oval.

The two-hour special starred Jimmy Barnes, Tones And I, Missy Higgins, James Reyne, Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite (who had to bow out of Malacoota on the day due to illness but still appeared in footage from an earlier show), The Teskey Brothers, Archie Roach, Ross Wilson, Birds Of Tokyo (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), The Living End, Something For Kate and Vika & Linda.

The list was a testament to Michael Gudinski’s clout– but not so much as when he told the Mallacoota crowd he’d made a promise to “pull a rabbit out of the hat” and brought on Kylie Minogue, who’d slipped into the country from London and managed to do a 14-day quarantine without the media catching on.

Kylie spins around

Minogue didn’t perform, but laid praised regional Victoria, introduced headliner James Reyne and band, and later came out as a go-go dancer with singer Mia Wray at the end of his set.

There were glorious moments during the show topped by an ill Archie Roach with ‘Took The Children Away’.

Equally as compelling were the collaborations. Barnes, Josh Teskey and Vika & Linda wrapped their mics around The Band’s ‘The Weight’, Gordi popped up first with Alex Lahey and then Missy Higgins, while Paul Dempsey and Hayley Mary took on Iggy Pop’s driving ‘Candy’ (ft. Kate Pierson of the B-52s).

Sounds Better Together also shone the torch on Darlinghurst, Didirri, Mia Wray, Pierce Bros, Mitch King, Scott Darlow, Bakers Eddy, D’Arcy Spiller and Fergus James – all set to take the next step to mainstream recognition.