Pete Murray ‘I Am Fire National Acoustic Tour’ @ Enmore Theatre Sydney 18/07/2025

DO NOT SING THIS SONG TO YOUR WIFE, DON'T DO IT!

Ok, let’s back up for a sec, I’m scrolling through my emails and see one and was like, “oh cool, the aussie singer-songwriter icon that is, of course, pete murray, is going on tour. I’ve seen pete live a few times now and he always puts on a good show, yeah i’m keen! not much else to really think about, yep, got it in my calendar, got a support worker/friend taking me, we’ll have a pub feed and a drink before the show, sounds like a bloody-brilliant friday night in newtown. good company, good food, cider and good live music, hell-yeah!” Couple of cider’s knocked back, ahhhh, …hmmm what’s this tour actually in celebration of? Pete doing a Swifty wasn’t it?

Now, I rock up at a sold-out Enmore Theatre, do some quick jumps and stretches, ready to do some head-banging in the mosh. Wait, where’s the moshpit? What’s all this seating bullsh**?! Just kidding, I mean no, it is actually all seating, would be quite funny to see full-on moshing at a Pete Murray concert. I mean I was going to sit regardless, sit back and relax for a change. I turn to my friend and say, “can you look up what this tour is in celebration for please”.

This tour isn’t in fact just to celebrate Pete becoming an independent artist and doing a Swifty, re-recording all his tracks on his own terms, this is apparently Pete’s first ever acoustic solo tour of Australia, AND he’s recently released a new single ‘I Am Fire’ Pretty epic! And it’s also pretty epic that the country of loyal fans will still sellout the Enmore for him, even when it’s a stripped-back acoustic solo show!

Now, some concerts I find it hard to write a full review on. I’ll thoroughly enjoy it yes, the sound mix, the bands sound, song choice, on-stage energy were all spot-on, but that can be said in, well, 19 words… now what? Tonight though, I’m going to have trouble not writing too much, peoples attention-spans don’t usually exceed around 1k words apparently.

The issue being this, I’ve been to 473 concerts prior to tonight, and none of them were like this. Yes, I’ve been to acoustic gigs before, sure, but not like this. (insert dramatic theatrical sounds here)

So Pete casually walks out onto the stage, and seemingly unrehearsed, chats to us, asking us if we’re nervous? I’m not he says, not nervous at all. Then he introduces us to the first song. Not too sure which song it is, regardless, it’s brilliant! The beautiful thing about this being a solo acoustic show, is that it’s literally just Pete’s hypnotic voice, his guitar, and occasionally harmonica, so the sound mix is I would imagine, easy to nail, and it does just that. Plus, no fancy lights to “accentuate” so the focus purely on Pete and his music.

“But Brendan, wouldn’t that get repetitive and boring after 90 minutes? Just a guy singing and strumming his guitar?”. Yeah I guess, oh well, review over, sorry guys, next time aye…

Just a couple more things before I go…

Normally I’d say yes, a guy simply singing and playing the guitar would get boring, but Pete’s storytelling, both heartfelt and incredibly humorous, with quick wit keeps my attention firmly locked and a big smile constantly on my face! I can’t say the same for the girls apparently in the row in front of my friend and I, Googling images of Pete Murray shirtless.

Some examples include, telling us how he’s a strong believer in fate and things happening for a reason. Example, Pete didn’t get into music until he was 22… wait, Pete only looks 25 to me? Pete tells us the story of how a close friend of his,  and Pete, were hanging out one day, and his friend, Charles, announced “I’m going to buy myself a guitar and start getting lessons!”. So Pete thought, “Yeah, sounds like a cool idea, I might give that a go too”. So Pete went and bought an acoustic guitar, got a few lessons, and loved it. He said he spent the next two years practicing in his room over and over, not the whole two years, I did leave my room at times he said. Then after those two years, he called up Charles and said “come over, I’ve got something to show you”. Then Pete played these songs on the guitar for Charles, who was astounded, then tells Pete that he never ended up getting a guitar and lessons after all. That was apparently the last time he saw Charles, as a year later, Charles died of a brain aneurysm. Devastated and so thankful for Charles’s friendship and for accidentally igniting Pete’s passion for music, Pete named his son Charles.

Other stories included how when Pete was living/backpacking around England and Europe, he went over with his friend from Sneaky Sound System, and they rented a two bedroom flat in London… with 19 other Aussies. Pete and his fellow musician friend used to put on shows at night, Pete’s friend would play original songs, and Pete covers as he only played covers at that time, then one night, a girl told Pete to play an original song of his, which Pete replied, “I don’t have any” “why not?” “uhm, I just do covers” “you should write your own songs”. So, just so he was prepared, just in case he ever ran into that girl again, shortly after a guy in the flat started seeing one of the girls that rented out one of the rooms and the couple decided to make love, not in the room and bed where the girl stayed, no, out in the loungeroom, on the floor, next to Pete… “it never lasted long, that was my only comfort” Pete tells us, he backpacked around Europe and started writing his own music, just in case he ever ran into that girl again. So because of that, meeting the girl, not the close proximately quick love making I mean, Pete started writing his own music, leading to the songs we all know today.

I honestly can keep writing for several more pages about Pete’s stories, seemingly unrehearsed, but surely he’d have to know roughly what he’ll tell us and when. But one stand out hilarious, quick-witted moment was when he told us, after playing ‘So Beautiful’, how guys have come up and told him how they played that song at their wedding. “Mate, why? Seriously, do not sing that song to your wife!” with a chuckle. Then Pete says “it’s a song you should be singing to your wife, at a divorce maybe, but this isn’t a Coldplay concert” (or something along those lines). Everyone burst out laughing at the reference to the incident at a Coldplay concert the day before.

Just like the build up to the climax of a movie, no I’m not referencing the flat in England, after Pete splashes the set with all our favourite hits including ‘Opportunity’ which Pete tells us how he was lucky enough to meet John Mayer and have John sing it with Pete at the Aria’s one year, but in the rehearsals John was singing flat, which Pete was freaking out about, and how do you tell John Mayer he’s singing flat? You don’t. So when John says to Pete with a sigh of frustration, “I’m singing flat” Pete replies”Oh really” but in the end they both nailed it. The set also included hits like ‘Free’ ‘Always Winner’ and for the last couple of songs, when the audience were in intensely high spirits, filled to the brim with music and humour, he brings long-time touring and recording partner and opening support artist Brett Woods out to raise the buzzing atmosphere even higher, closing the night with the timeless hit, ‘Better Days’ with everyone singing along even more and louder than in previous songs, and got me and my friend standing and waving our arms side to side to the closing vocal melody with a huge smile on our faces!

So ask yourself, did that sound boring and repetitive to you?    

Ps. Sorry for exceeding the typical attention span, honestly I could have kept going!  

Bliss N Eso ‘Party On The Moon’ Tour, Evan Theatre, Penrith NSW 12/07/2025

WHO’S UP FOR A PARTY ON THE MOON?!

Aussie Hip-hop OG’s Bliss N Eso and their fans, have gone from racing across Flowers In The Pavement during the Day Of The Dog, to elevate into the atmosphere of timeless Hip-Hop anthems with Flying Colours. But they and we, didn’t leave it there, oh hell-no, those Flying Colours sent us to new heights Running On Air, higher, higher and higher, until we threw our musical arms wide, dove head-first in musical greatness, further defining the genre, twirling and weaving through that Circus In The Sky. Seemingly Off The Grid of possibility, the band and their fans have been circling The Sun, and now, it’s time to Party On The Moon… in Penrith.

Look, I’m sure you can go down the road to Kingswood and find someone who’ll sell you something that’ll seriously make you think you are in fact on the moon, but honestly, I’ll pass, these legends’ live shows themselves are like the most potent drug, and best of all, being completely clear-minded to soak up the musical party in its entirety!

I’ve been following these guys since 2009, not literally of course, that’d be rather tiring I’d imagine, plus, I don’t think blind people would make very successful stalkers. All jokes aside, there’s a very good reason or two that keeps bringing me to their shows, tonight being #14, and it’s not JUST their ever-growing catalogue of bangers.

Let me break it down for y’all…

I won’t do a song-by-song breakdown, that’d be one insanely long review, instead ima paint the canvas with those bold, free musical colours.

The canvas in which is the live shows foundation; BnE don’t just preach “Peace Love and Unity” in their lyrics, they live and breathe it at their shows. I’ve seen them in numerous venues of varying sizes and production capabilities, but the one constant at all shows, is always, and I truly mean always being connected with their audience. The show tonight starts off shakily, after being significantly late to take-off, which seemed to only build fans’ excitement and I guess, chance to buy more at the bar, shortly after BnE explode onto the stage amidst a theatrical recording, they quickly stop, as they notice a fan had fallen on the ground, toward the back of the standing area, and wasn’t getting back up. The band made sure staff sorted it out and took care of their fallen fan, telling us they’ll come back on stage to properly start when they get the thumbs up that the fan’s alright. Now, during the high-as-hell, energy of the show as it gets underway, the band connect with us by talking to us on a personal level during songs, getting us to clap, sing and chant what they want at their command, talking to us like regular happy-as-f**k Aussie music lovers, not celebs, giving us the real, plus reaching out to us, high-fiving and fist bumping. Some blind guy at the front even copped an epic signed poster from Eso between songs!

The sound/defining colours; BnE’s music along is uplifting, anthemic and you can’t help but to smile and get jiggy to, no sitting down if it can be helped! The boys amp it right up and smash that energy up through the roof at their live shows, with Bliss, Eso and DJ Izm all feeding off each other like one body, one  heart and soul, with their live drummer being like a paint brush helping keep the consistency and texture of the musical paint. I have to note, at all BnE shows the sound mixer is superb, I never have any issues defining individual sound elements, with Bliss and Eso’s vocals always clearly taking centre-stage, and tonight’s no different!

Blend of musical colours/song choice; The set wasn’t cut short, despite the late start luckily, we get a smorgasbord of a packed 21-song setlist, featuring a beautiful mix of old and new fan favourites that make my eyes light up! From ‘Family Affairs’ early in the set which is always a treat at BnE shows, especially with how well they get the audience to rap-along, to feel-good mature as f**, anthem ‘Act Your Age’, to ‘OG’, my personal favourite ‘My Life’ new singles ‘Vacation’ and ‘Chemical Heart’ with Grinspoon, and classics ‘The Sea Is Rising’ and finishing up with ‘Addicted’.

Textures and tone; I must say that the boys still bring the extremely high energy performance emitting love, big smiles, inclusion as if they know or at least, want to know each and every one of us, and over-all bright musical colours! Despite a lot of hip-hop acts us crowd chants like “say oh-yeah, say f**k-yeah” and “make some f**kin’ noise!” to interact with the audience which is great of course, but often is used too liberally, often adding too much oil or too much texture where it’s not needed, ending up distracting from the big picture, the music. BnE do those crowd interactive techniques too, but they’ve had years of practicing and refining their art, so now be at the point to perfectly apply it effectively.

Final observation; Even though my musical taste generally gravitates more towards rock and metal, Bliss N Eso is, well put very simply fun! I always have an amazing time at their shows even during the more “gangster rap” style songs that I’m generally not a big fan of, I always have a smile on my face and build up a sweat from jumping and dancing!

After all, music isn’t just heard, it’s felt, it’s experienced. That’s exactly what BnE give fans, an experience that you can feel long after the show finishes!

Hilltop Hoods 'Show Business' Tour - Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney 03/09/2022

LET’S CHASE THAT FEELING!

Tonight, I’ma Chase That Feeling down here at the front barrier of Qudos Bank Arena in The Nosebleed Section, because Aussie hip-hop icons Hilltop Hoods are Still Standing after the involuntary hiatus on the music scene caused by the pandemic, and Hilltop Hoods are ready to party and remind us why we need to hold on tight to live music and why they’re at the top of the Aussie hip-hop scene, on the bands’ ‘Show Business’ Tour! 

Now, if you’re familiar with my reviews you’d know I normally take my readers through an in-depth, song-by-song analysis. Tonight though, I don’t feel that’s necessary and I’d just be repeating myself… a-lot! No no, it doesn’t mean this show is repetitive and anything short of special, quite the opposite.

The energy, excitement and sheer fun-happy vibes skyrocketed straight away with opening song ‘Leave Me Lonely’, with a notable suspense-building sudden stop in the bridge section to raise the impact for the final chorus, then straight into one of my all-time favourites, ‘Chase That Feeling’. Which I should note, that for the live experience this song features an extra ‘synth’ sound added into the songs intro.

Now, picture this, you’re in the crowd at Qudos Bank arena, if you’re not wearing protective ear-plug down here at the front of the standing crowd (I am THANK JEEBUS!) you’re bombarded by bones-rattling bass, but luckily, astonishingly, it doesn’t even come close to drowning out the vocals and other musical layers, I mean, there could be a smidgen more mid-range in the mix, but that’s me looking for any gaps, but by the sheer excitement emanating from fans around me from the band racing around the stage, feeding off our energy and each others on stage perfectly surrounded by a dazzling light show, you’d think this is as good as it gets and that it’ll be more of the same throughout the performance right? You know, fans sing along at the top of their lungs… in my ears, the band revs us up between songs, we clap along to beats, jump when the band tells us to, maybe a bit of confetti for us to bat-away from our faces like cats etc etc.

Well yes, that does all happen as I described but with a few key differences that make this show truly special and memorable. First off, after the band play ‘Chase That Feeling’, they ask “has anyone here not seen us before?” which the young girl to my right calls out that she hasn’t, it’s her first time. (you never forget your first) Then, the band member who asked the question pointed the girl out and ask what her name is, “Mia!” then the band say hi to Mia, thank her and the rest of us for being here, mention Mia a few more times as the band rev us up leading into ‘The Nosebleed Section’, which was perfect for the songs’ lyrics in the chorus “I fell in love with the people in the front row”... but apparently my blind eyes missed one little, iddy-bitty detail. After Mia called out her name and one of the band members confirmed it, he unfastened his watch and gave it to Mia! No, I doubt it was a $10,000 Rolex or anything, more likely one of the custom Hilltop Hoods G-Shock watches, which if anything I think is better!

But the special moments don’t end there! After the band play ‘I Love It’, one of the band members “where’s the blind guy with the sign?” (yes, me) and wants me to hold it up for him to read out. Apparently he has it shown on the big screens for everyone to see while he reads it out, calls me a bloody legend and asks “who reckons I should give him a drum stick” which he does. And he calls ME a bloody legend?! Then a couple of songs later, after nearly burning my eyebrows off with pyro-technics and covering us all in confetti (definitely not the last time for either!), the bloody-legend who gave me the drum stick and gave Mia his watch came off the stage to connect with us in the front row more personally, including giving me a hug during one of their song.

Now I could go on and on about the insane energy from start to finish, the perfect flow of musical energy from one song to the next, being absolutely covered in several rounds of confetti, not to mention losing my eyebrows and beautiful Irish-red beard to at least three separate occasions of flames shooting up from the stage about five metres in front of us here at the front, and how the band performed each song perfectly, but the most important thing to point out is this.

It’s one thing to talk to the crowd at an arena concert with roughly 22,000 fans, rev us up and what not, but Hilltop Hoods have shown, no scratch that, proven to us that their fans do really mean so much to them and they will go out of their way to connect with us even in a massive venue with rules, regulations, precise time restriction, complex stage set ups etc. They perfectly blended the intimacy of a small venue like they played at in their early days where they could be closer to their fans, and a full-scale arena show with all the fancy trimmings and effects.

This night, finished with the grand finale of ‘Cosby Sweater’ which Hilltop Hoods brought Elsy Wamaro and A.B Originals on stage to do some extra parts and join in on the fun, was truly a special, fun happy celebration of the music we all love, being back to witness it live on stages again, and sharing it with fans, friends and loved-ones alike, venue sizes and limitations be-damned!

I Love It!