The seventh Tour De Force entertains almost 10,000 people in the rain at Dili Stadium. Photo by Capt John McPherson, MPA

One last tour for Timor




From Capt John McPherson in East Timor
THE seventh and last Tour de Force concert has again been a hit with the deployed force and the local people, four-and-a-half years since the first troops landed in Dili.

The AAB-Brisbane teamed up with bands Kintama and Space Invaders and comedian Fred Lang for the concert circuit, which entertained thousands over a weeklong tour in early March.

The tour began with concerts for Australian troops on consecutive nights at the forward operating base at Moleana before taking the show to the locals in the township of Maliana.

Organisers expected a crowd of about 600-800 people at the Maliana concert, so they were amazed to see the numbers swell with villagers from the surrounding area to about 4500.

The next day there was an unplugged concert for the Fiji Company based at Aidabaletan before the tour headed to Dili for shows at the Australian National Command Element and the Dili Stadium.

After such tremendous success leading up to the Dili Stadium concert, the elements conspired to put a damper on the final show, with torrential rain falling most of the night.

The rain didn't stop a resilient East Timorese crowd and it didn't take long for the stands to fill and the crowd to overflow onto the ground itself and right up to the stage.

Estimates put the crowd at between 8000 and 10,000 people, a phenomenal turnout considering the conditions.