KT Tunstall ‘Eye To The Telescope’ 20th Anniversary Tour @ Metro Theatre Sydney 23/05/2026.

With my Eye To The Telescope, Suddenly I See a retrospective night of nostalgic celebration from an artist who helped shape an era of singer/songwriters. Scottish hit maker KT Tunstall returns down under in celebration of the 20th anniversary of her acclaimed album ‘Eye To The Telescope’, playing the album in its entirety plus other fan favourites. After KT was here a year ago supporting Train, where at the Sydney show my interest was firmly seized by KT’s instantly infectious blend of pop, rock, folk and blues delivered with charismatic energy and sass, now we get the complete picture.

For those who may be reading this just because you like gig reviews but are wondering who KT is, just get Spotify or Apple Music to play ‘Suddenly I See’ by K.T Tunstall…*insert pennies dropping here.

After the rapidly- filling buzzing crowd is warmed up by Adelaide’s own Germain Sisters, KT emerges to raucous cheers. Unlike the typical full band highly rehearsed and executed concert, in which artist/bands typically charge straight into the opening song to raise the energy instantly, before addressing the audience. KT has a different approach. KT starts by saying hi,thanking us all and welcoming us cheerfully before heading into the first song which of course is the opening song off ‘Eye To The Telescope’, ‘Other Side Of The World’. This opening approach sets a more personal authentic feel to a highly rehearsed, planned performance with all the production and timing facets of a concert.

I won’t do a song by song sequential recount of the entire show as i feel it’s unnecessary. We know KT will be playing the album ‘Eye To The Telescope’ in it’s entirety from start to finish with other fan favourites. With our spot here at the front barrier, my friend can see the setlist and confirm this is the case, with the first 13 songs being the complete album plus five more hits as an encore. But there is in fact a twist.

Luckily KT’s biggest hit ‘Suddenly I See’ isn’t the first song or two off the record or it would likely be followed by an unclimactic deflating sense for the remaining show. As it is, the first few songs of the album include hits like ‘Other Side Of The World’, ‘Another Place To Fall’, ‘Under The Weather’, ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’, and ‘Universe And You’ all in the first 7 songs, with Suddenly I See’ at number 9. But there’s a total of 18 songs on the setlist including the encore, and wait, ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’ is track number 13 not 4?

It really doesn’t matter that KT’s biggest hits off the album are in the first half of the set. KT shines with captivating charismatic stage presence as she talks to us between songs, which even when the popularity or general essence of a particular track lowers the energy, KT fills the gap perfectly. The way she interacts with us isn’t in a way that feels rehearsed, timed or censored. This is despite the fact that she would somehow have to be mindful of the time restraints, and know roughly what she’ll share with fans and when. It feels raw and as if she’s talking to us individually and as one simultaneously.

Between songs, which the audience all sing and dance to in seemingly high spirits, KT shares tales of her career and life in general, like when she was at a festival alongside Foo Fighters, and as she was in a shipping container of a dressing room, Dave Grohl walks past and shouts something like “KT, you rock!”, which KT was like “fuck yeah, Dave Grohl says I rock!”. This tale is shared in the encore before playing one of KT’s rockier tracks.

All of the songs played tonight are without the polished shiny bits that are heard in the recordings of some songs like the fuzzy wavy effect in ‘Universe And You’ by the sound of it. Instead all songs are performed authentically raw with just instruments and guitar pedals for KT. KT at one point welcomes to the stage Andy Miller, a musician from Newcastle that KT and Train met at a pub Andy was performing at last year and impressed KT thoroughly. As well as the humbling inclusion of Andy and the love KT shares with him and her fans, her band includes Jimmy Barnes’ son Jackie on drums and fellow musician in her own right Katherine Halloran.

As for the sound tonight and stage energy. The sound is loud and clear without it being painfully harsh, to the point of shouting at the person sitting next to you on the way home because your ears are ringing. As a result , instead of using my concert earplugs, I instead opt to simply just lower the volume on my hearing aids. All sounds are clear and balanced and as far as no shiny polished bits to the songs from what I can detect at least, some might say it’s unauthentic, but I feel it brings a more raw authenticity to the song, as its played live the way it was meant to sound without the production sparkles. Another interesting thing I’m noticing with the sound, is even though I’m standing at the front barrier closest to the sound sources, there are no speakers on the actual stage from what I can detect. The sound is evenly projected throughout the venue from the main PA speakers either side of the stage. As a result, if my friend didn’t confirm that KT is directly in front of me I wouldn’t know based on the direction of sound not being centralised for KT’s lovely Scottish voice.

As for the onstage energy, KT surprisingly doesn’t move around the stage. Instead she’s busy bustin’ a move in the centre of the stage so she always has access to the guitar pedals.

When KT plays the hit ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’ (my personal favourite) KT gets the crowd to sing along with her, as well as her and her band extending the song with a massive rock out at the end of it. Before playing the song  KT tells us how the album was finished ready, but then she had this amazing song at the last minute that she just had to squeeze onto the record. Playing this song at the set's end is perfect as it erupts the atmospheric energy tenfold!

Shows like this are rare treats to experience albums that fans love and grew up with, performed like they’re supposed to be experienced, not just picking select songs from it. And when artists like KT can deliver one of these shows in a raw engaging way that makes it truly special!

I was lucky enough to catch KT after the show and she told me “Tonight was so wicked, it was such a good crowd, I really feel like I’ll be back soon!”

You better be KT!

Until then, keep a Keen Eye 4 Concerts…