LIVE REVIEW: THE CHURCH @ THE TIVOIL 25/11/25

The Singles Tour: A Career Retrospective

Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

The Church brought their two act Singles Tour to The Tivoli. The band delivered a career retrospective, delivering twenty-two ‘singles’ from the band’s origins in 1980 Canberra up until today with their new single ‘Sacred Echoes (Part Two)’.  ‘Steven John Kilbey’, as introduced by guitarist Ashley Naylor, was on form all night as he spoke eloquently and with humour about his 45 years in the band, making music, life in the music industry, and his general experiences with added dad jokes.

The big crowd that sold-out The Tivoli, on a Tuesday night, got to hear the stories behind the creation of the songs, and the songs themselves, that made The Church a household name in Australia and internationally. Steve Kilbey had a vision for his band, but “it was not as easy as I thought – getting into the charts,” as he described his deal with the devil to gain fame. The Church’s musical output over the last 45 years has been prodigious as they traversed the soundscapes of new wave, post-punk, dream-pop, alternative-rock, and they have certainly gone deep into psychedelic rock as Steve Kilbey spoke about cruel critics’ classification of some songs sounding “like Puff The Magic Dragon on acid”.

The crowd at The Tivoli tonight ranges in ages across the generational divides. At the merch stand, there were many serious conversations about which of the band’s 25 studio albums was the most iconic ‘Of Skins And Heart’, ‘The Blurred Crusade’, ‘Seance’, ‘Starfish’ or were you really into the singles. I have to say The Church’s vinyl album ‘Hindsight 1980 to 1987’ is a complete winner.

The evening’s performance commenced with a dark and moody ‘intro’ soundscape of electric blips and the flipping of vinyl records with muffled conversations about 45s and 33rpm media. Then, The Church came onto the stage and started Act One with ‘Columbus’. After the first song, the band stopped as Steve Kilbey quipped, “Good evening, look it’s a standing ovation already”. He was in a playful manner and he looked up for delivering an absolute blast for the crowd. And, he did!

“So, you like singles, do you? Shallow bastards!” stated Steve Kilbey. “We have a really singly, singular single for you now”, and that song was ‘Electric Lash’. Then, the crowd were told about its first performance in Sydney in 1980 and that deal with devil tale: the song was beautifully performed. There was another short stop where the crowd were told, “Talking of singles. Does anyone remember our double single? Did you ever hear about that, the double single? It’s worth about $3.95. I wanted to have two records in the charts at once, but I got no records in the charts,” exclaimed Steve Kilbey to laughter coming from the crowd. Then, those glorious guitars led into ‘Tear It All Away’ as those melodies took the crowd away to a different place and time.

The Church were on form. Those chiming guitars provided by Ashley Naylor and Ian Haug, the acoustic guitar played skilfully by Cameron MacKenzie underpinning them, Nicholas Meredith on drums and Tim Powles on percussion and keys underscored the pumping bass and vocals of Steve Kilbey. The band were tight, controlled and disciplined. This really showed when they performed 2022’s ‘Hypnogogue’ with its wild creation myth about an ageing rock musician, a time machine fuelled on “sex, drugs and magic” and we were duly informed, “It got a great review in New Zealand – which was amazing as those guys over there really hated me”.

Steve Kilbey and Ian Haug stopped and had a conversation. “I really hate playing this song!” stated Steve Kilbey. “Well, we love playing this song,” countered Ian Haug. “Okay then! I hope it makes you fucking happy!” sulked Steve Kilbey. As the guitars chimed and echoed the introduction to ‘The Unguarded Moment’ and it was delivered with style and grace. It was wonderful! It sounds as fresh as the day it was written all those years ago. I was so fucking happy! And, so were the crowd.

The band got stuck into playing ‘Block’, another set highlight, then the marvellous ‘Metropolis’, then the song that “needed some love”, ‘It’s No Reason’, but we were told “not to over do it”. The last two songs of the Act One set were ‘Realm Of The Minor Angels’ and my absolute favourite, ‘Reptile’.

After a 20 min interval, The Church returned to begin Act Two. They kicked off the set on an absolute high with ‘Almost With You’ from the dazzling ‘Blurred Crusade’ album. The crowd were in full song following the band’s lead. It was a magic way to start! It was followed by the very ‘new wave’ guitar melodies of ‘When You Were Mine’ and it was another set highlight and the crowd were loving it.

The chat from the band diminished for a while as the songs ‘Ripple’, ‘Destination’, ‘Constant’ and ‘Another Century’ were performed. The band stopped for a breather and Steve Kilbey introduced the band. And, it was wonderfully funny. Ian Haug, he’s from Queensland. Ashley Naylor “is the human jukebox”, and then there was a statement about “Rainbow Beach, wherever the fuck that is” for Cameron MacKenzie, replacing Jeffrey Cain as he is unwell. Nicholas Meredith from “Camperdown in NSW – the Fortitude Valley of Sydney”. The respect and admiration that Steve Kilbey has for his band members was sincere and beautifully executed.

The set moved into its final phase with ‘Already Yesterday’, ‘Numbers’, and then the “real national anthem of Australia”, the beautiful and “most sampled song” in Australian music, ‘Under The Milky Way’ was performed with lovely sparkling lighting. There was some chat about getting ‘Albo’ to make it the new national anthem, “he was supposed to come to a show but he didn’t turn up”– the crowd agreed with the song being the new anthem – at least we would have a song with a great melody and one everyone likes. Then, the last song in the regulation set was “the noisy song” the fabulously groovy ‘Tantalised’.

The encore was great. The Church performed their new single ‘Sacred Echoes (Part Two)’, and closed out the evening with ‘Space Saviour’. It was a wonderful ending to a magical night. The Church were on point all night and they played with precision. They sounded wonderful, the crowd were into it, and the sound and lighting around the band was terrific.

To those attending the other sold-out concert on Saturday at The Tivoli – enjoy!