KATE CEBERANO: AUSTRALIAN MADE – HAMER HALL – MELBOURNE October 23, 2026
Review: Bryget Chrisfield. Photos: Ian Laidlaw
Opening with a string of earth-shattering Divinyls numbers – Science Fiction, Boys In Town, I’ll Make You Happy (their Easybeats cover) – Kate Ceberano bashes a stand-up drum kit while she sings, bookended by Kathleen Halloran (nailing Mark McEntee’s blistering guitar solos, no less) and brilliant multi-instrumentalist Dusty Lee Stephenson.
As for Ceberano’s Adam & The Ants-style, Dandy Highwayman-inspired hussar jacket – want!
The audience claps along, enthusiastically and immediately invested. We stand up and scurry to the end of our row for a boogie that won’t obscure punter sightlines.
Ceberano’s encore Australian Made tour celebrates 40 years since one of the greatest Australian festival tours ever saw her breakout band I’m Talking performing alongside INXS, Jimmy Barnes, Divinyls, Models, The Saints and Mental As Anything.
A snippet of Burn For You by INXS morphs into Cebrano’s love letter to James Reyne. She teases the pair “may or may not have kissed” back in the day. One of Ceberano’s “favourite songs”, Slave (Australian Crawl), follows, as Halloran switches to bass.
Following their rendition of Stranded by The Saints, Ceberano admits she used to be “a little bit scared” of Chris Bailey. Ceberano opened up for The Saints (alongside The Church and Sunnyboys) at the Lower Plenty Hotel when she was just 15. An acoustic version of No Secrets by The Angels follows, with the audience in fine voice come the chorus.
Ceberano then plays harmonica to launch into the Australian pop-rock classic I’ll Be Gone, by the Mike Rudd-led Spectrum, which segues wonderfully into Russell Morris’s The Real Thing, with additional, crowd-supplied “Ooh-mow-ma-mow-mow”s ringing through the Hall. Ceberano recalls performing with Morris in the 1992 Australian arena production of Jesus Christ Superstar (he played Simon Zealotes, she played Mary Magdalene), which ran for 84 performances across Australia. This Australian Cast Recording debuted at #1, where it remained for ten weeks.
Later, Ceberano sings Everything’s Alright from this hit musical. She recently performed this song at The Songs of John Farnham: A Living Legend – The Celebration Concert alongside Jon Stevens, which obviously didn’t suck.
After fanning out over Fanny Lumsden and admiring her from afar (on Insta), Ceberano interrupted a red carpet interview at the 2025 ARIA Awards to fangirl.
This extraordinary, self-made country artist is invited on stage to perform her own Mountain Song, which captures wistful longing and makes us teary.
Wearing a floor-length red tartan skirt to reflect her Scottish heritage, Lumsden wows the crowd, totally winning us over and accumulating new fans.
PSA: Lumsden’s fifth studio album, Traditions, drops on 30 October.
The pair then duet on Earth & Sky, a song Ceberano wrote – inspired by Sara Storer – which appears on her MSO-featuring album, My Life Is A Symphony (2023).
Halloran takes Wendy Matthews’ vocal parts in You’ve Always Got The Blues, Ceberano’s 1988 jazz-blues duet with Wendy Matthews.
Farnham’s Burn For You affords Stephenson his duet moment, adding some grit. Keith Urban’s performance of this same song during the aforementioned Farnsie tribute concert is one of the greatest things we’ve ever seen, but this Ceberano/Stephenson rendition is up there.
We’re then taken “to Westfield Shopping Centre”: True Romantic followed by Pash. During the latter, we can’t help but wonder whether Ceberano perhaps made some meaningful eye contact with Reyne while performing this one back in the day, which may or may not have led to them locking lips.
I Hear Motion by Models – what a timeless banger! Many punters spill into the aisles to bust a move. The backing tape for this one incorporates some of Sean Kelly’s OG vocals. Talking To A Stranger by Ceberano’s self-confessed “favourite band”, Hunters & Collectors, follows. Then enter Holy Word by her very own art-funk band, I’m Talking.
Showcasing Ceberano’s pristine pipes to perfection, Love Don’t Live Here Anymore features additional preprogrammed triangle pings and cascading strings.
Icehouse’s Can’t Help Myself is a joyous inclusion, during which we “can’t put the brakes on!” Ceberano’s daughter Gypsy gives us Bedroom Eyes.
While introducing her signature song Brave, Ceberano recalls travelling around the UK with her Mum, taking meetings with record labels. Although nothing came of it (she turned down Stock Aitken Waterman, choosing creative input instead), Ceberano had the resolve to make music on her own terms. Brave hits differently following this backstory.
Ceberano dedicates her closing medley – If You Leave Me (Mental As Anything), Barbados (Models), I See Red (Split Enz) and Women In Uniform (Skyhooks) – to some dearly departed legends of the Australian music scene: to Greedy Smith, James Freud and Shirley Strachan.
Ceberano refers to tonight’s hometown audience as “her friends and family”, which is exactly how she makes us all feel. Love for what she does oozes from her every single note and gesture.
She’s one of the finest voices this country has ever produced – has Ceberano ever hit a bum note in her life? On top of that, this trio’s synergy is something to behold. Bring on the Australian Made double encore, we say! Celebrating this golden era of Australian music just never gets old.
Setlist
Science Fiction – Divinyls
Boys In Town – Divinyls
I’ll Make You Happy – Divinyls
Burn For You – INXS (snippet)
Slave – Australian Crawl
Stranded – The Saints
No Secrets – The Angels
I’ll Be Gone – Spectrum
The Real Thing – Russell Morris
Harley & Rose – The Black Sorrows
Mountain Song – Fanny Lumsden
Earth & Sky – Kate Ceberano
You’ve Always Got The Blues – Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews
Sweet Inspiration – Kate Ceberano
Everything’s Alright – Andrew Lloyd Webber
Burn For You – John Farnham
Help – John Farnham
True Romantic – Kate Ceberano
Pash – Kate Ceberano
I Hear Motion – Models
Talking To A Stranger – Hunters & Collecters
Holy Word – I’m Talking
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore – I’m Talking
Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil
Outa Mind, Outta Sight – Models
Can’t Help Myself – Icehouse
Bedroom Eyes – Kate Ceberano
Brave – Kate Ceberano
If You Leave Me – Mental As Anything
Barbados – Models
I See Red – Split Enz
Women In Uniform – Skyhooks
