Mark Seymour will revisit four decades of Hunters & Collectors and solo songs with a full orchestra at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre on 26 November.
by Paul Cashmere
Mark Seymour will return to the Melbourne stage on 26 November for a one night only performance of Mark Seymour Orchestrated: Hunters & Collectors The Hits & 40 Years Of Songs & Stories, a concert pairing his catalogue with a live orchestra at the Palais Theatre.
The performance coincides with the 40th anniversary of Hunters & Collectors’ Human Frailty, the 1986 album that established the Melbourne band as a major Australian recording act. Seymour will draw from Hunters & Collectors and his solo catalogue, with orchestral arrangements intended to place the songs in a larger, cinematic setting.
For Seymour, the Melbourne location carries particular significance. “Melbourne is my home town, and it has been a major source of inspiration for much of my work over the years,” he said. “So to bring my songs to the Melbourne stage accompanied by a live orchestra is going to be a powerful and immersive experience.”
The production is being presented in collaboration with Classical Music Australia. Chris Howlett, Director of Classical Music Australia, said the event combines Australian contemporary songwriting with orchestral performance.
The concert has been commissioned by the ACT Government and was premiered by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Ryley Gillen is the conductor, with orchestral arrangements by Ross Irwin. The Melbourne performance will be the first time Seymour presents the orchestrated production in his home city.
Seymour said the song selection was designed to balance the best-known Hunters & Collectors material with solo compositions that lend themselves to the orchestral treatment.
“The songs chosen for this show are a careful balance between the Hunters & Collectors songs that everyone knows and loves, and my solo arrangements that are stylistically most similar,” Seymour said. “The orchestration places these songs in a much larger, cinematic landscape.”
The repertoire includes Hunters & Collectors standards such as “Holy Grail”, “Still Hangin’ Round”, “When The River Runs Dry”, “Do You See What I See?” and “Throw Your Arms Around Me”. The selection also reflects the continuing place of Seymour’s songwriting across more than four decades of Australian music.
Human Frailty provides the immediate historical context for the concert. Released on 7 April 1986, the fourth Hunters & Collectors studio album became the group’s first Australian Top 10 record, reaching No. 10 and No. 5 in New Zealand. The album included “Say Goodbye” and a re-recorded “Throw Your Arms Around Me”, which subsequently became one of the group’s most enduring songs.
The band’s catalogue subsequently expanded through albums including What’s A Few Men?, Ghost Nation, Cut and Demon Flower. “When The River Runs Dry”, “Do You See What I See?” and “Holy Grail” became significant entries in the group’s live repertoire and Australian music history.
Hunters & Collectors reunited for live performances in the 2010s, including a major touring period that extended through the Red Hot Summer series. The group’s music has also continued to be interpreted by other Australian and international artists, reinforcing the breadth of Seymour’s songwriting catalogue.
The 2026 anniversary has already prompted other celebrations of Human Frailty. Four musicians associated with the album are scheduled to perform as The Engine Room at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel in October, although Seymour is not part of that project.
The Palais Theatre concert therefore places Seymour’s songwriting at the centre of a broader anniversary year while taking the material into a different performance setting. Rather than recreating the original Hunters & Collectors arrangements, the orchestral production gives the songs a new musical framework.
Pre-sale tickets for Mark Seymour Orchestrated begin on Wednesday 2 September, with general public sales commencing Thursday 3 September through Ticketmaster and the official event website.
Tour Dates
26 November 2026, Melbourne, Palais Theatre
Ticket Details
Pre-sale begins Wednesday 2 September 2026. General public on-sale begins Thursday 3 September 2026 via Ticketmaster and markseymourorchestrated.com.au.
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