20 September 2025 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi – pictures by Nino Lo Giudice
Australian music icon Kate Ceberano drew a huge sold-out crowd to the Fortitude Valley Music Hall as she brought her Australian Made Tour to Brisbane where the past and the future were quilted together. She has been graciously mentoring the next generation of young musicians, and the fabulous guitarist Kathleen Halloran delivered the new wave as she supported the celebration of Australian made songs and voices.
The most amazing news of the night was Kate Ceberano’s acknowledgement that she has just had the intellectual property rights to her own music and songs returned to her after 40 years. I am so happy for her to be able to sing, play and tour her own music now and Brave can get its 40th anniversary tour done properly – as it should. I am so sorry that Ceberano was yet another victim to untalented music industry players who steal the song writing and musical skill from young women because they can. So, happy Independence Day to Kate Ceberano!
It was an older crowd that poured into the Fortitude Valley Music Hall as soon as doors opened. The lights dimmed and the evening started with guitar virtuoso and rising singer songwriter Kathleen Halloran. I have seen Halloran play with Ceberano a few times over the past 18 months and saw her amazing performance at the Mundi Mundi Bash as the lead guitarist in the Ziggy – 50 Years of David Bowie performance.
This set was going to be very different as she delivered an intimate portrait of the singer songwriter. Halloran sat on a chair in a halo of white light with her acoustic guitar and her own voice ready to perform a solo set of 6 songs. She started with her blues-tinged original song ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’. With a mix of openness and poise, Halloran stopped and spoke to the crowd about the delivery of “her own original songs” over the set. Then, she performed the stunning ‘I Am Hunted’ and followed it with ‘Cost Of Living’ and her first ever self-written track ‘Free With Me’.
Kathleen Halloran is a fantastic guitarist. However, in the last year she has started to turn her mind to creating her own songs and music. She chatted in between the songs about the importance of her work with Kate Ceberano over the last eight years, the mentoring she has received since she was 15 years old, and the professional experience that touring has given her and how it has broadened her musical perspective.
Halloran played a stunning 30-minute set, her voice rising in-between the stripped-back intricate guitar riffs and her heartfelt lyrics. Her own rock style was demonstrated in the new song ‘I Am Nobody’s Baby’, from her forthcoming album as she explained to the crowd about her own journey to writing her own story in song. She closed her set with a nod to “long nights in her bedroom learning Mark Knopfler’s licks” as she performed a guitar only cover of Dire Straits ‘Sultan’s Of Swing’. The crowd loved it and her extraordinary skill!
After a short break, the theatre went dark. The anticipation in the room was palpable as the journey into Australian music’s past was about to begin. The guitar and synth player Darren Hearts stepped on stage, followed by Halloran this time using her electric guitar to underpin the musical delivery of the headlining performance. Then, Ceberano, walked out onto the stage and tucked into herself into the drum kit with synths, tambourines and a cowbell, and started the huge percussive feel with the drums in the opening song by the Models in ‘Out of Mind, Out of Sight’ as she kicked off the 26 song setlist, and the evening, with energetic precision and passion.
Kate Ceberano and band – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
Then, without taking a breath, she performed Flower’s (Icehouse) ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ that was melded in with Silverchair’s ‘Straight Lines’. Ceberano stopped and moved to the front of the stage to talk to the crowd about the idea behind her ‘Australian Made Tour’ and her reimagined covers of the musicians and artists who helped shape her musical journey over her life.
Kate Ceberano’s set was a nostalgic pilgrimage through Australian music, expertly blending her own hit songs ‘Brave’ and ‘You Got Me All Tied Up’ with a mixture of medley combinations. She stood at the microphone with her snare drum plate on her waist and her wire fan sticks in her hand to play cymbal and snare effects. And I had forgotten that Ceberano is a classy drummer, as she and her band delivered the slowed-down medley of ‘Hold On’ that blended into INX’s ‘Burn For You’ as she set the 1980s soundscape agenda with ‘The Way I Made You Fell’.
Kate Ceberano and band – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
Then, she told the poetic love creation story about her album ‘The Dangerous Age’ that was a collaborative effort with Steve Kilbey and Sean Sennett before she performed The Church’s ‘Under the Milky Way’ and followed with ‘All Tied Up’. Then, she delivered a lovely tribute to The Reel’s Dave Mason in her version of ‘Quasimodo’s Dream’. Ceberano described grabbing a boy in a striped jumper and “pashing him” through that song to help lessen Dave Mason’s deep melancholy during one gig when she was young.
Ceberano also talked about her wild youth as she was failed a job interview with Joe Camilleri (aka Jo Jo Zep). Then, in honour of that moment as she was told to “get out” she sang ‘Harley And Rose’ for the crowd. Then, she launched straight into performing Bernard Fanning’s ‘Wish You Well’ and these songs started the huge singalongs for the night. Ceberano showcased her ability to reinvent and breathe new life into beloved classic songs especially the 1970’s “caravan park staples” of Cold Chisel’s ‘You Got Nothing I Want’ and Daddy Cool’s ‘Eagle Rock’ as the crowd went nuts and sang along word-for-word.
Ceberano’s voice was warmed up now. The set highlights were on their way: the wonderful rendition of ‘Man’s World’ was followed by outstanding covers of The Divinyls classics ‘Boys In Town’ and a nod to the fight against breast cancer as she delivered a huge ‘like-a-version’ of ‘Touch Myself’ as the women in the crowd sang along at full volume.
Kate Ceberano and band – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
Then, she stopped and introduced the fourth member of the band: her beautiful quilt that hang at the back of the stage. She admitted that quilting is not exactly “sexy” but it was an unexpected outcome of the pandemic that stopped her frenetic life of 40 years of touring in its tracks and this was the result of all that pent up energy redirected – and the quilt is beautiful. Then, it was back to the music with Models absolute classic ‘I Hear Motion’performed as it was blended with Hunters And Collector’s ‘Talking To A Stranger’. And, then, Ceberano focused into her I’m Talking era with a medley of ‘Do You Wanna Be’, ‘Trust Me’ and ‘My Name Is A Holy Word’.
Then, the set went up another notch, with Ceberano’s take on Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ performed delicately on the keyboard. Before the party started and the crowd got on their feet to dance and shout along with Wolfmother’sclassic ‘Joker And the Thief’. And fans went nuts when her own song ‘Pash’ was played. Then, the regulation set was over and I snuck out of my chair down to the front of the stage to stand and really enjoy the encore.
The crowd really did call for an encore – loudly. Kate Ceberano, Kathleen Halloran and Darren Hearts returned to the stage. Ceberano celebrated her ‘Independence Day’ with real grace as she sang a few lines of ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ in response to an insistent male fan. Before she started what she wanted to do: and that was deliver a popstatic version of ‘Bedroom Eyes’, a fun cover of Mental As Anything’s ‘If You Leave Me Can I Come Too’ and Spilt Enz’s ‘I See Red’ before she took us to the core of her musical journey. The last track was her personal rendition of the song written for her by Paul Kelly ‘Cake And The Candle’ that he said “she would grow into” and the whole evening demonstrated that is just what she has done.
Kate Ceberano and band – FMH – photos by Nino Lo Giudice
Ceberano’s performance, and the setlist delivered was a masterclass in delivering her legacy, reinvention, and musical grit in the face of stolen musical rights and property. It was more than a concert. It was a living archive of her memory of the people, places and songs that made up Australian rock music delivered through her lifetime – she is, and was, a living witness to watching and performing with these musicians. She and her band delivered an evening filled with pathos and joy.
Kate Ceberano’s complex show mixes introspection with celebration with Australian Made and it is not to be missed.
