The Sacred Heart Mission’s annual concert is a major event – not only in the charity’s fundraising, but for the St Kilda community as a whole. For ten years now the Heart of St Kilda Concert has celebrated Melbourne’s music and comedy communities while also helping to support Sacred Heart Mission’s meals program, giving back to the very community that many of the performers – such as MC, RocKwiz co-presenter and ABC Melbourne broadcaster Brian Nankervis – live in.
The meals program provides up to 400 meals daily – over 160,000 a year – out of its dining hall in Grey St, St Kilda, for those experiencing homelessness, social isolation and disadvantage. This year’s event features a huge lineup including Leo Sayer, Courtney Barnett, Jimeoin, James Reyne, John Paul Young, Dave Callan, Models, Tim Rogers, and Rebecca Barnard.
“It’s been this wonderful, traditional celebration of St Kilda,” Nankervis says. “It works on a couple of levels. It’s a celebration of St Kilda, it’s an incredible show in a wonderful theatre and I think that’s a big drawcard. I know when it was first suggested to me, apart from the Sacred Heart Mission angle, which I’ve always been a key supporter of, to perform in the Palais Theatre is such a thrill. And to do it year after year, there’s something great and comforting about that repetition. I quite like tradition. I’ve realised that about myself over the years.
“And what a line-up,” Nankervis continues. “We did want to make it a little bit extra special because it’s the tenth year but never did we dream we’d be able to present Leo Sayer and Courtney Barnett on the same stage on the same night. Jimeon has been a huge favourite over the years. Dave Callan is hysterically funny. And one of the really exciting ones for me at the moment is Emma Donovan, who is going to perform a Ruby Hunter song. Now, Ruby and Archie Roach were on our very first show, and of course sadly she’s no longer with us, but to have Emma Donovan perform a Ruby Hunter song will be very special.”
This will be the first time the event has been held in the newly-refurbished Palais, which has been returned to its original sandy yellow colour and brought more up-to-date without compromising the beloved building’s spirit. “Come down and see what they’ve done,” Nankervis says. “It’s a grand old theatre but we probably need to spend a bit of dough on these places to keep them up to scratch. And if you look at the bands that have played there, The Rolling Stones in 1965, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and you walk out the door and there are the palm trees and Luna Park and the Bay. It’s pretty special.”
St Kilda has always been a place that has drawn people from all areas, and there’s a long history of homelessness and poverty as part of that. It’s important to realise that this is a part of what St Kilda is, and we 96 Trammers need to take care of our own. “Absolutely,” Nankervis says. “They’re part of the fabric of Melbourne. You go anywhere and there’s something very disturbing about walking past people who clearly have slept the night on the street, and they’ve got a cup out or a cap, and you just think ‘How did things get to this, and what can I do?’
“I’m absolutely aware of the sense of helplessness. You don’t want to walk past, you put a dollar in and you don’t know how much that can help but you want to do something. This concert is a chance where it’s very clear, all the proceeds go to the Sacred Heart Mission Kitchen, which serve 160,000 meals a year and the reality is that that kitchen is open for breakfast and for lunch every day, and anyone can turn up. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you don’t have to be from St Kilda, you can turn up and be fed and they’ll hook you up with help services, medical services. It’s a remarkable thing and an essential thing.”
