by Ted Jennings and Shane Sody

On a cold, wet and dreary winter’s evening, there was a hot and bright patch at Diverse-City on Grote St last Saturday, 4 June.

The UnPaving Paradise Re-Greening Benefit show was a one-off fundraiser for our re-greening project on disused former netball courts off Port Road at Thebarton, within Bonython Park / Tulya Wardli (Park 27).

*The view from the balcony at Diverse-City during the UnPaving Paradise re-greening benefit show on Saturday 4 June.*

This piece of old asphalt is a heat sink in summer, but has been used in recent years for a makeshift car park, hosting up to 350 cars.

*The site of our first, pilot, re-greening project*

The Adelaide Park Lands Association, under an agreement with the City Council, is planning to re-green a portion of the car park.

We are about to announce (by 15 June) the winners of our poster design competition. We are hoping that the winning design for this site will prove to be a template for subsequent additional re-greening efforts at other degraded locations within your Open Green Public Adelaide Park Lands.

*Helga Handfull as the Mistress of Ceremonies. Pic: Ted Jennings*

Raising funds for this project, an appropriately diverse range of performers entertained a near-capacity audience at Diverse-City.

APA’s Ted Jennings has this review of the show:

Helga Handfull, our Mistress of Ceremonies, was vibrant and risqué. The laughs began early and didn’t seem to stop all night!

When comedian Mavis graced the stage, I was instantly reminded of a person of a generation that ‘calls a spade a spade’.

By the end of the performance, I felt as if I had been on the floor doing a 45-minute core workout as I had laughed so hard.

Abbey Mae was up next. Her voice was reminiscent of the cabaret era, including a heartfelt song from Billie Eilish, which was sung as if it was from Abbey’s own life.

The audience was behind her with an emphatic singalong. Helga then returned to the stage in an even more stunning outfit and another stomach work-out of laughter.

More music followed with the Seratonins taking the stage with their laidback acoustic set (with several appropriate jokes thrown in about stools).

APA’s Deputy President Ingrid Wangel then took over, hosting the raffle and giving out 22 donated prizes. In hindsight, Ingrid could’ve been a part of the show as she used the microphone with confidence and style that I can only dream of doing.

She handled the raffle in a shoot-from-the-hip fashion. She’s one of those people who steps up on stage at a karaoke bar and has everyone singing by the end of the night.

The Love Mussels closed off the night with some proper, old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, drawing from their repertoire going back to their classic “Dirty World” from 1994 and more recent highlights from their more recent concept albums: “It’s All Relative” and the forthcoming “Love Mussels Save the World”.

*Some of the crowd, including Sean Cullen-Macaskill, Robert Simms MLC and Malwina Wyra at The Greens table*

Thanks to the generosity of the performers who donated their time, as well as APA’s organising committee, and all those who attended, the event netted over $1,400 for our re-greening project.

For reports on that project, and other Park Lands news, please subscribe to our bimonthly newsletter “Open, Green, Public”.