triple j’s One Night Stand in St Helens, Tasmania: biggest ever

In a first for the region of St Helens, Tasmania, people from all over the state and country gathered to witness a massive celebration of music and culture at the St Helens Football Club, home of the 2018 One Night Stand for one Saturday.

More than 20,000 people passed through triple j’s One Night Stand over the course of the day. Almost as impressive as their love for live music was their patience, as for the first time in the event’s 15-year history, the party hit capacity.

The night went out with a bang, not just thanks to the sheer amount of pyro and fireworks that Peking Duk brought to Tasmania, but by their electrifying number of collabs, from SAFIA’s Ben Woolner on both ‘Say My Name’ and ‘Take Me Over’, Cloud Control’s Alister Wright on ‘Distant Arizona’ to both Luca Brasi guitarist Thomas Busby and Middle Kids‘ Hannah Joy on a cover of The Strokes’ ‘Last Nite’, even calling on Kwame to rhyme on Peking Duk x AlunaGeorge’s ‘Fake Magic’.

To no-one’s surprise, Vance Joy was the king of the sing-a-long, playing hit after hit, but the most unique highlight was the magical pairing of Vance Joy and Julia Jacklin for a cover ofFleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’. It wasn’t lost on anyone in the crowd that this was a one-night-only performance and we were very lucky to be there.
Tkay Maidza, who is preparing for a big national tour of her own this September, had her squad game on point when she played her latest banger ‘Flexin’ with the help of Kwame, Arno Faraji, Carmouflage Rose,The Kid Laroi and Jesswar – all dipping in to provide their own flair over the gritty beat of Tkay’s original.
Having spent much of this year touring, Sydney three-piece Middle Kids were in fine form, treating the eager crowd to cuts from their debut album as well as an epic cover of Lorde’s mega hit ‘Homemade Dynamite’ alongside Unearthed favourite Ruby Fields.

After giving us one of the most empowering songs of 2017 in ‘Not Worth Hiding’, Alex the Astronaut showed us why she connects so well with her audience. Her catchy songs and personal lyrics, coupled with a completely authentic stage presence made for a moving moment, particularly when joined by Ball Park Music’s Sam Cromack for a beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan’s ‘Blowing In The Wind’, in tribute to their late friend and bandmate Luke Liang.

Tassie band The Sleepyheads opened the concert, setting the tone for the rest of the day with the top notch punk rock that scored them the spot through triple j Unearthed. To everyone’s delight, Luca Brasi’s Tyler Richardson joined them on stage for a killer performance of ‘Never Forget You’re Here For Them‘, a massive highlight from the home town hero.
You can catch all of these incredible highlights and more in a 90min special on ABC and iview from 9:30pm Sun 2 Sept.

Plus over the next few weeks triple j will be re-playing you the best of the live sets on the Live At The Wireless program, kicking off with a best-of One Night Stand highlights set at 8pm Mon 3 Sept. You can also catch up on all the videos, photos and music news on the triple j website, facebook and Instagram.