Considering his success in Australia, Gilbert O’Sullivan has been a rare sighting in this country. In fact, this 2025 tour is only his second Australian tour. It took over 40 years to get Gilbert to Australia the first time when he toured in 2018.
This tour is even more special in that the 2025 shows are just Gilbert on piano with Bill Shanley on guitar. Shanley also comes with top shelf credits, having worked with Ray Davies, Judy Collins, Mary Black and Paul Brady.
Gilbert was performing in the intimate setting of Palms at Crown in Melbourne. The room has a capacity of 800. This was as up-close and personal as you can get to Gilbert who performed more than 50 years of his catalogue in this stripped back environment to take the audience into the heart of the songs.
He was also generous with the banter, telling stories about the songs and the times in which they were written. We were taken way back to the first album ‘Himself’ from 1971 through to the recent ‘Kiss Is A Kiss’, the sole new song from 2024’s ‘Songbook’.
Here is a fun fact for starters. At age 78, singer songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan has lived longer than both of his namesakes, poet Sir William S. Gilbert who died at age 74 and composer Sir Arthur Sullivan who died at age 58.
Along the way we had the singalong with ‘Happiness Is Me and You’, a very different version of Gilbert’s hit song for Hurricane Smith ‘Who Was It’, with Bill on Mandolin and of course, the hits. ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ is not only one of the greatest songs of all time, it is one of the saddest. The beautiful ‘Clair’, about a real person, his manager’s daughter Clair Mills, the wacky ‘Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day’, the funky ‘Get Down’, all of these song have become classics.
In the early days of the 70s, Gilbert shared the charts with Rod Stewart, Elton John, David Bowie, Leo Sayer, who were all also new artists and still finding themselves was at the time. Just think about the incredible time we were having musically in 1971/1972/1973 with Gilbert’s ‘Alone Again’, Leo’s ‘The Show Must Go On’, Elton’s ‘Rocket Man’, Rod’s ‘You Wear It Well’ all new music at the time. These were the Pop Stars of their day. They were artists who could write and perform their own material for people who appreciated the art of music. There was no committee of songwriters and producers manufacturing a pop star out of autotune back then. In Gilbert’s day, you either had talent or you disappeared.
That makes being able to see Gilbert O’Sullivan, who was so creative more than 50 years again, still excelling at their chosen profession, still being able to bring pleasure to fans who have known and loved these songs for more than half a century.
Gilbert has two more shows to go.
4 May, Sydney, City Recital Hall
6 May, Canberra, Canberra SCC Club
The 2025 Noise11 Gilbert O’Sullivan interview:
Gilbert’s setlist from Melbourne, 1 May 2025
Set 1:
The Same the Whole World Over (album Gilbert O’Sullivan, 2018)
A Friend of Mine (from I’m A Writer, Not a Fighter, 1973)
What Can I Do (1967 song released on Himself reissue in 2011)
Nothing Rhymed (from Himself, 1971)
Let Bygones be Bygones (from Driven, 2022)
Miss My Love Today (from Southpaw, 1977)
No Head for Figures but Yours (album Gilbert O’Sullivan, 2018)
We Will (from Himself, 1971)
Dear Dream (from Every Heart Has Its Play, 1995)
Kiss Is A Kiss (from Songbook, 2024)
Take Love (from Driven, 2022)
Dansette Dreams and 45’s (album Gilbert O’Sullivan, 2018)
Where Peaceful Waters Flow (from I’m A Writer, Not a Fighter, 1973)
Ooh Wakka Doo Wakka Day (single 1972)
Clair (from Back To Front, 1972)
Set 2:
At the Very Mention of Your Name (from Frobisher Drive, 1987)
No Matter How I Try (from Himself, 1971)
No Way (from Latin ala G, 2015)
Blue Anchor Bay (from Driven, 2022)
I Don’t Love You but I Think I Like You (from Alone Again)
Happiness Is Me and You (from A Stranger In My Own Backyard, 1974)
Ooh Baby (from I’m A Writer, Not a Fighter, 1973)
Why, Oh Why, Oh Why (from I’m A Writer, Not a Fighter, 1973)
Who Was It (from Back To Front, 1972)
Out of the Question (from Back To Front, 1972)
I’ll Never Love Again (album Gilbert O’Sullivan, 2018)
What’s in a Kiss (from Off Centre, 1980)
Alone Again (Naturally) (single 1972)
Encore:
Matrimony (from Himself, 1971)
Get Down (from I’m A Writer, Not a Fighter, 1973)
The 2022 Noise11 Gilbert O’Sullivan interview:
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YOUTUBE and updated regularly. See things first SUBSCRIBE here: Noise11 on YouTube SUBSCRIBE
Follow us at https://bsky.app/profile/noise11.bsky.social
Comment on the news of the day, join Noise11 on Facebook
