A tribute from the tributes

report by SES volunteer Phil Wall

Less than 24 hours after Black Saturday Chelsea SES was called in to assist. Members from Chelsea were sent to Whittlesea to assist with traffic, and one member, Phil Wall, returned home in the early hours of the Monday morning with a feeling that he needed to do something extra. After some thought Phil decided to put together a concert to raise money and to recognise the work of the volunteers involved.

The idea he came up with was a tribute from the tributes; an evening of entertainment with a line up that would be impossible to see at any time, anywhere, anyhow! Imagine a concert that featured Abba, Robbie Williams, The Eagles, Liza Minelli, Roy Orbison, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and even Dr Phil. Now imagine them all as Aussie tribute bands.

Phil Wall with Dr Phil

Amazingly, within a couple of hours on the Thursday night he had confirmations from all of the bands and a commitment from cast members of Channel 10’s Neighbours. He now had his show. At this point Phil felt like a dog chasing a car – now he had caught it, what would he do with it?

Requiring a venue, Phil called the Crown Entertainment Centre to say that he had an idea, a great line up and was in need of a place to stage this extravaganza. He was given 20 minutes to put together a letter of proposal and emailed it in just before the 5pm deadline on Friday evening. At 9am on the following Tuesday morning, a call came from Crown to say he had his venue.

It was decided to try to split the evening by both selling tickets and having a large number of volunteers and their families attend for free as a thank you. The final result? Almost $20,000 was raised for the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal 2009 and a group of 550 CFA volunteers and their families from all across Victoria were able to enjoy a fantastic night’s entertainment at the fabulous Palms at Crown.

Danielle Green, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Corrections, Bob Cameron, was also on hand to add her thanks on behalf of the Victorian Government. Ms Green, a CFA volunteer from the electorate of Yan Yean, was the ideal representative as far as Phil was concerned.

On March 31st, some 7 weeks and many, many sleepless nights after that fateful day in Whittlesea, Crown played host to a night that will be remembered by many. It really was the ultimate tribute.

As was said during the show, Australia is tough, but Australians are tougher, and with a mate at your side, we will prevail; so thanks for coming mate!

The tribute bands performing

The show in full swing at the Palm