RED HOT SUMMER – WERRIBEE PARK – MELBOURNE – 08.02.2026
Review: Craig Eriksson. Photos: David Harris
We kick started our day embarking on a cross-country expedition across town and down the M1 to Werribee Park to attend the Red Hot Summer (RHS) outdoor music festival. The historical Werribee Park Mansion and State rose garden is absolutely beautiful and a well laid out setting to host this event. We were full of excitement as this RHS had a stellar line-up of all-Australian artists, well known for their live performances and it provided a nice mix of music genres too.
Melbourne is well known for its four seasons in one day and it was true to form. When we arrived early to see Jess Hitchcock it was around 30 degrees and we were baking in the heat. It then poured with rain throughout Kasey Chambers set and then out came the sun again for the rest of the afternoon. About a third of the way into Paul Kelly’s set it bucketed down rain again, soaking us to the core.
JESS HITCHCOCK:
Jess Hitchcock is an indigenous singer-songwriter with family origins from Saibai in the Torres Straits and Papua New Guinea. Jess is a trained mezzo-soprano and you can hear this quality in her songs. Her music blends country, folk and opera music with pop. Jess performed a 30-minute, 8 song set opening with Homeward Bound from the Unbreakable (2023) album, which showcased her powerful and beautiful voice. Silvermoon and Nightmare in the Sunshine followed along with two wonderful covers If It Makes You Happy (Sheryl Crow) and Call Me (Blondie) which highlighted her versatility. Jess finished the set with Way It Goes and then announced she would be singing with Paul Kelly later.
KASEY CHAMBERS:
Kasey Chambers (KC), the country singer-songwriter and musician from Mount Gambier, South Australia played a 50-minute, 9-song set and opened with Barricades & Brickwalls. Kasey is such a natural performer and storyteller and her interaction with the crowd, sense of humour and friendly stage banter is second to none. Not Pretty Enough followed and at the end of the song, she pointed to ‘beard guy’ in the audience and said “I saw you sing harder than anyone and your wife should be proud” (laughed). Kasey said when she was called up and asked whether she wanted to be on the dream RHS line-up, she immediately said “Yes” as it meant free tickets to see Paul Kelly every night (laughed). Pony was a crowd favourite and KC performed a wonderful duet of Rattlin’ Bones with her guitarist Dingo. KC sings with such raw emotion and has a very unique voice. Her music is a blend of country, folk and rock. It pelted down rain for the majority of the set and Kasey was an absolute trooper getting as drenched as the rest of us. KC invited her drummer (Syd) to come down to the front of the stage and get soaking wet like the rest of the band and join them to sing Hey. KC performed a solo a cover of Eminem’s Lose Yourself and they finished with The Captain and We’re All Gonna Die Someday. The rain stopped as they finished their set and then the DJ played all songs relating to rain during the break.
THE CAT EMPIRE:
The Cat Empire are made for outdoor music festivals with their 8-piece band which includes 3 horn players and a percussion section creating a fun, carnival of sound with their blend of high-energy, ska, jazz, reggae and funk. Frontman Felix Riebi sings and plays the congos and his connection with the crowd had everyone up on their feet dancing and singing along to their infectious grooves. We loved watching the ‘party queen’ Neda Rahmani who plays bongos, percussion and dances around the stage with immense energy and her Afro-Brazilian drumming style. They played a 50-minute, 10-song set that included fan favourites How To Explain?, Hello, Two Shoes and The Chariot. During the set a hawk kept flying above the audience and had everyone watching it (a spiritual moment in the show). The crowd loved Sly and Still Young and everyone was grinning from ear to ear , jumping about with pure enjoyment.
THE CRUEL SEA:
The Cruel Sea are a ‘must-see’ live band and play what I would call a blend of soulful, blues-infused, twangy, guitar rock. Frontman, Tex Perkins is so laid-back and with his deep baritone vocals and stage persona, he is mesmerising to watch. During their 50-minute, 11-song set, Tex and the band performed many fan favourites with Too Fast For Me, Anybody But You and Better Get A Lawyer. The musicianship of the band is incredible, watching guitarists Matt Walker and Danny Rumour perform instrumental songs Orleans Stomp and the surf rock song 4 was a joy. Other standouts were Straight To The Sun and Delivery Man. Towards the end of their set, Tex talked up how huge their biggest hit song was back in 1993 comparing it with some of the greats (Bohemian Rhapsody) in his dry witty manner which led into The Honeymoon Is Over.
MISSY HIGGINS:
Missy announced that she would play songs from all her albums and played a 1-hour, 12-song set opening with Going North from On A Clear Night (2007). In between songs MH gave a little background about how she wrote the song and what it was about. Much to the delight of the crowd, Missy sang Ten Days, Scar and The Special Two from The Sound of White (2004). The In-Between was about MH’s marriage break up and becoming a single mum. MH alternated playing acoustic guitar and electric piano. Hidden Ones is about speaking up for yourself. Peachy is about the joy her daughter Luna brings to MH’s life. Craters is about getting yourself out of a rut (crater) and getting on with your life. Missy then covered a Keith Urban song Better Than I Am and finished with Steer.
PAUL KELLY:
National treasure Paul Kelly played a 21-song set over one and a half hours with his wonderful storytelling songs about Australian life and its people. Hearing all the classics like Before Too Long, To Her Door, Dumb Things, Leaps and Bounds and How To Make Gravy and its sequel Rita Wrote A Letter were just brilliant. PK has a wonderful band with his nephew Dan Kelly and Ash Naylor on guitars, lifetime friend Peter Luscombe on drums, Bill McDonald on bass, Cameron Bruce on keys and having Jess Hitchcock perform backing vocals just takes his music to another level. Jess and Kelly did a great duet on Every Day My Mothers Voice. The band performed a cover of Midnight Oil’s The Dead Heart and dedicated it to the late Rob Hirst. Other standout songs were Deeper Water, From St Kilda to Kings Cross, Going To The River With Dad. PK opened playing piano and then throughout the show played acoustic guitar and harmonica. It was a beautiful, feel-good vibe during his set and it started bucketing down rain but that didn’t seem to bother the crowd one bit as they soaked up the music. The perfect ending to a wonderful day saw the whole band step forward to gather around a single, lone microphone, separating themselves from their usual rock instruments to sing the delicate vocal harmonies (A Capella) of the gorgeous Meet Me in the Middle of the Air. Absolutely beautiful!
