Some big names in music teamed up on Saturday, March 14 to play two Sound Relief festivals in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. The festivals were held to raise money for victims of the February Victorian bushfires, which killed over 200 people, and left approximately 7,500 homeless.

The Sydney show was held at Sydney Cricket Ground, and attracted more than 50,000 people, despite heavy rainfall throughout the day. The concert was headlined by international acts such as Coldplay and Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees, and featured some of Australia’s most successful artists, including Wolfmother, The Presets, Marcia Hines, and Eskimo Joe.

The Melbourne show was held at Melbourne Cricket Ground, and attracted 73,000 people. The line-up featured Kings of Leon, Jet, Jack Johnson, Midnight Oil, and eight- time ARIA award winner Gabriella Cilmi, who at 17 was the youngest performer of the day. Wolfmother traveled from Sydney in time to also appear at the Melbourne show.

The event raised over AU$7.5 million (US$4.8 million) between ticket and merchandise sales, and donations. The proceeds from the Melbourne show were donated entirely to help the bushfire victims, while the Sydney profits were split 50/50 between bushfire victims, and the victims of the Queensland floods.

"What kind of tea is this? This is scotch tea! What are they going to do? Kick me out?"

Lagwagon's Joey Cape headlined two nights of acoustic punk rock on Feb. 18 at the Los Angeles Knitting Factory, and Feb. 19 at Alex's Bar, Long Beach. He was joined by the Foo Fighters' Chris Shiflett, Drag the River's Jon Snodgrass, and Patrick Carrie and Robb MacLean of Limbeck.

Joey Cape took to the stage sporting his iconic "beard of shame", pleasing fans with acoustic renditions of Lagwagon's "Violins" and "May 16", as well as some of his solo hits, including “The Ramones Are Dead”. He made no secret of what could be expected of the Long Beach show, telling the Knitting Factory audience "you should all come tomorrow, I'll be playing a completely different set... That's a lie. This is all I know how to play.”

Chris Shiflett surprised fans by opening with a cover of Anti-Flag’s hit “Die For Your Government” and later singing Buddy Holly’s “Rave On”. Joey Cape joined him on stage to sing a song about their time living together in San Francisco with NOFX’s Fat Mike.

An admittedly drunk Jon Snodgrass worked his way self-consciously through an unprepared set, taking requests from the audience of both his solo music and Drag the River’s songs. Robb MacLean and Patrick Carrie also impressed fans with acoustic renditions of Limbeck’s songs, including “Sin City” and “Honk + Wave”.

Despite all performers being somewhat self-conscious about their acoustic abilities, the imperfections in their performances added to the experimental atmosphere. Joey Cape summed up the show saying, “we didn’t really know what to expect tonight, but we’ve had a lot of fun, and hope you have too.”