Pete Murray has returned to the touring circuit with the recent release of his album Blue Sky Blue: The Byron Sessions. With so many collaborations on the recording, it inspires speculation as to who might make guest appearances at his live shows.
As the audience walked in and sat down in the small space that is the York Theatre, it was clear that this would be the intimate show that Murray promised.
Kicking off the night was last year’s The Voice winner Karise Eden, her distinctive sound easily captivating everyone’s attention. She impressed the crowd by performing two originals written in London for an upcoming EP, one entitled “Beast In You”, as well as some covers she performed on “that show”.
Murray made an early entry to the stage, a casual walk highlighting his humble nature. His set wasn’t starting yet, though, as he explained. His original beat-boxer and slide guitarist Nathan Kaye was out in hospital, and he had recruited a replacement.
The young woman that next stepped on stage, Bernie Van Tiel, was nothing short of amazing. With confidence that ensured the full attention of the crowd, she conquered amazing feat after amazing feat; from making seven layers of sounds to incorporating vocals while beatboxing, all with her voice alone.
She left the stage with everyone in awe and it would not surprising if a few people now have a newfound desire to learn how to beatbox.
Then it was the man of the night’s turn. Making another humble entrance, it would be a while before the crowd calmed down and the performance could begin.
What occurred from then on was a rollercoaster of emotion. With moments to make you laugh, and some that drew a tear or two, Murray’s set list was full of variety.
With songs from every point of his career, and continual encouragement for requests from the crowd, it’s hard to think of a song that wasn’t played. Not only that, but the collaborations and guest appearances were endless and nothing short of amazing.
The man they call ‘Twinkles’ manned the bass guitar most of the night, joining Murray for “Led”, one of the songs recreated on his new album. And, just when we thought Bernard Fanning was heading our way to also lend a hand, it turned out it was “the night he washes his hair”.
There was plenty of storytelling and reminiscing throughout the show. One tale included a run-in Murray had with an extremely drunk woman on a Melbourne club strip, where he talked for ages with her about the meaning of his songs. After revealing that woman was actually his now ex-wife, Amanda Coutts, Murray launched into the song “Better Days”, which inspired a crowd sing-a-long.
“Blue Sky Blue” came up early in the set too, with the beautiful Fantine joining Murray to recreate the version heard on the new album. She also reappeared later on to join in on many of the tracks, including “Hurricane”.
With Twinkles already on stage, Matt Smith, the guitarist from Thirsty Merc, joined the pair for “Let You Go” and remained on stage for a large portion of the set.
Definitely the most heartfelt moment of the night came when Murray read out an email he had recently received. The email told the story of a woman in the crowd who had been battling cancer for the last 16 years of her life. She had used Murray’s music to get her through ever since hearing it in a hospital waiting room.
Bertie the beatboxer graced the stage a number of times, joining for “Free” and “Always A Winner”, where she cranked out a superb solo. Eden also returned to the stage for the track, singing the second verse beautifully and giving it her own unique edge.
Pete did get some solo time on the song “Opportunity”, which drew another major sing-along from the entire crowd.
In another surprise, Jimmy Barnes appeared on stage to perform “Forever Now”, the song Murray covered for the Cold Chisel tribute album Standing On The Outside.
It was a relaxed night full of feel-good moments, from people getting up to dance on the stage and numerous crowd song dedications, to plenty of comical interactions between viewers and Murray.
A night full of continuous foot tapping that made old fans fall in love with him all over again, it highlighted not only the amazing performer, but also the amazing person that Pete Murray is.
