8 May 2025 – The Princess Theatre, Brisbane – words and pictures by Nino Lo Giudice
Kicking off the One Guitar-One Night tour at the Princess Theatre in Brisbane (with the following shows sold out!) on a Thursday night is a nice way to ease into a tour for Ian Moss. Leading up to the tour there were some very clear directives about the use of cameras and mobile phones, and as we entered the venue, the no photos and no video signs were displayed prominently.
With no support act tonight, Moss would be doing what was in effect two shows, a more lo-fi first set and a more uptempo second set. Once all the punters were seated, Ian opened the set solo and acoustic with ‘Angel Eyes’ and then into ‘Piccolo Bar’ with the rest of the band joining him.
Ian Moss and band – The Princess – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
We all remember ‘Telephone Booth’ from his huge debut solo album Matchbook from 1989 and then he introduced a Don Walker song (written when Walker was 17) called ‘The Party’s Over’. The show was a seated show and with the no cameras or video message being enforced, it was refreshing to be able to see the whole stage without a phone up.
Moss introduced his band next, Zoe Hauptmann on bass, Harry Sutherland on piano and keys, and Kerry Jacobson on drums, and mentioned that it was his first time ever playing the Princess Theatre and what a gorgeous venue it was. The set would be a balanced set with a bit of Cold Chisel and a lot of his solo work.
Ian Moss and band – The Princess – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
Moss introduced the next song, telling us that we should all know it and went into ‘Flame Trees’ and the crowd loved it, singing along with every word. He played one more song then announced there would be a 20 minute intermission.
Punters rushed back to their seats as Moss and band kicked off with ‘Islands’ and at the end of the song asked the crowd if they’d enjoyed a beverage or two during the break – this drew an appreciative murmur from the crowd. Moss thanked the crowd for coming along to the first show of his tour and this had the crowd cheering loudly.
The next song, Moss said “now here is a fucking challenge, mixing jazz and blues, let’s see how we go…” and played ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’. And played it to perfection!
Ian Moss and band – The Princess – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
Further into the set Moss introduced ‘Cry Me a River’ a classic song by Arthur Hamilton that you probably best know the Ella Fitzgerald version of. And then all of a sudden he was announcing that the last song had come up and with it the tempo and Moss and band closed with probably his best known solo song, ‘Tuckers Daughter’.
Moss and his band returned for an encore of ‘Broadway’, ‘Choir Girl’ and ‘Bow River’ and once again thanked the crowd for coming along. I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of old and new, Chisel and solo work and by looking at the faces around me so did the crowd. Ian Moss’s staying power as an artist, nearly selling out night one (tonight) and selling out the next couple of shows over the weekend is a testament to this.
