January 4

Source: canberra.yourguide.com.au

January 4, 2006

Drawcard Crowe to lead concert line-up
by Kanchan Dutt

Hollywood film hero and part-time rocker Russell Crowe will make a rare appearance in Canberra as one of the headline acts at the national capital's Australia Day Live '06 Concert. Fans of the brooding actor will get a prized chance to see him when he takes to the stage with his new band, The Ordinary Fear Of God.

Since striking it big in the American film industry, the Oscar winner has found it increasingly hard to make it back to Australia, and organisers of the annual bash are delighted to have landed one of entertainment's most sought-after names.

Event manager Peter Byron said, "This is definitely the biggest line-up we have ever had. The organisers were looking for someone big and Russell Crowe was available, it's fantastic. We are expecting up to 30,000 people to turn up, which would make it the biggest outdoor event in Canberra."

He also revealed organisers were still working on signing one more huge, home-grown star in time for the event on January25, the eve of Australia Day.

Mr Byron said details on the big-name celebrity should be finalised by the middle of this month, adding, "All I can say is that it is a very high-profile person that we are working to secure."

The show on the lawns in front of Parliament House will be co-hosted by Big Brother presenter Gretel Killeen and Australian Idol hosts James Mathison and Andrew G.

Crowds will also be entertained by hit bands Rogue Traders and Thirsty Merc, Jade MacRae, Joel Turner and eternal comic favourite Bob Downe.

But it is the coup of securing Crowe and his new band, which replaces his old outfit 30 Odd Foot Of Grunt, that has left organisers predicting the best Australia Day concert yet.

The concert coincides with a busy month for Crowe, who will be playing gigs around the country, as well as vying for best actor at Hollywood's Golden Globe film awards for his role as a down-and-out boxer in the film Cinderella Man.

The nomination for the prestigious acting award came at the end of a troubled year for the New Zealand-born star, who gained worldwide notoriety for throwing a mobile phone at a concierge at a hotel in New York.