Great Australian Songbook Live presale codes

This curated concert brings landmark Australian songs to the stage with a rotating cast and a seasoned house band.

From pubs to concert halls

The identity is part pub-rock heart, part folk storytelling, and part pop craft, built for voices from different eras to share one bill. Expect staples like Beds Are Burning, To Her Door, Throw Your Arms Around Me, and Never Tear Us Apart, with a couple of deep cuts to keep crate-diggers happy. The room usually mixes long-time gig goers, younger fans raised on parents' records, and people who just love a good chorus they can carry home.

Songs you already know, played with care

One neat quirk of shows like this is the use of key changes to suit each guest, which keeps familiar tunes fresh while staying true to the hooks. Another tidbit: Throw Your Arms Around Me has multiple studio versions, so bands often pick the tempo and feel that best fits the night's singers. Production leans on live drums and warm guitars over heavy tracks, letting the songs breathe and swing the way they were first cut. To be clear, these notes about songs and production are our best read from similar revues rather than a confirmed plan.

Culture in the Chorus at Great Australian Songbook Live

The scene skews relaxed and proud of craft, with vintage 80s and 90s band tees next to neat shirts, denim, and well-worn boots or clean sneakers.

Wear your history lightly

People tend to hum harmony lines in the aisles, then lock into loud choruses on the last repeats when the band opens the mics to the room. You will spot lyric tees, limited prints that list a night-by-night set of classics, and a charity tie-in vinyl or two at the table.

Chorus as community

A common moment is the crowd clapping on the backbeat during a mid-tempo pub-rock tune, then dropping to near silence for a story song so the words land. Between sets, fans trade notes about early pub gigs, Top 40 memories, and which version of a classic they favor, more like a record club than a party. The tone is respectful, upbeat, and tuned to the songs, which keeps the focus on melody, message, and that shared last chorus.

The Nuts and Bolts of Great Australian Songbook Live

Vocals come first, with the house band keeping space so each singer can shape the line and pull the room into the story.

Keep the song in front

Arrangements often start lean and add parts in steps, so a verse may sit on guitar and keys before bass and drums lift the chorus. Tempos tend to sit a notch under radio pace to invite group singing, while bridges keep their original tension so the payoff feels earned. Guitarists usually carry both bright strumming and pub-rock crunch, and drop-D tuning shows up when a riff wants extra weight without getting muddy.

Small shifts, big lift

Keys fill gaps with organ swells or piano hooks, and a small horn section can color the best-known singles without crowding the vocals. A lesser-known live habit in revues like this is swapping who takes the first verse, which makes the chorus hit different when the original voice joins later. Lighting tracks the music with warm tungsten for nostalgic pieces and cooler washes for newer cuts, avoiding spectacle that would overshadow the songs.

Kindred Ears for Great Australian Songbook Live

Fans of Paul Kelly will find the same plainspoken storytelling and singalong refrains that frame these nights.

Kindred writers and singers

Crowded House loyalists connect through melodic craft and warm harmonies, especially when the band leans into bright, chiming guitars. If you follow Missy Higgins, the intimate piano and lyric-first ballads here echo her quiet-to-loud arcs.

Melodies that carry

Followers of Midnight Oil link in through muscular rhythm sections and socially aware anthems, though this format softens the edges for a shared bill. Together these artists travel a similar lane: sturdy songs, chorus power, and arrangements that work in both theaters and open-air lawns.