Review: Greg Phillips. Photos: Jason Rosewarne.
It’s no coincidence that those artists who thrive and survive in the cut and thrust of the music industry over a long period of time are the same people who are not only exceptionally talented but, more importantly, establish a deep level of trust and loyalty within their fanbase. Midge Ure is a prime example.
In Midge’s mind, he owed Australia a tour full of hits. Many of his long-time Australian fans didn’t get to see the Scottish-born music legend in 2020, as COVID was lapping at the tour’s heels. With each ensuing gig, the government reduced the number of people allowed to gather in a public place. Then, the 2025 return tour was postponed due to issues beyond his control.
Finally, in October 2026, Midge Ure made it back to our shores to fulfil his commitments. Musically, he’d moved on, touring the UK with A Man of Two Worlds, a new double album consisting of vocal tracks and instrumentals. However, the re-ticketed 2025 (now 2026) Australian tour had already been labelled “hit-laden”, and last night at Melbourne’s Palais Theatre, that’s exactly what fans received.
Cleverly, Midge had added an addendum to the tour title. By naming it Catalogue – The Hits, he gave himself the freedom to dig deep and appease long-time fans with tunes spanning his solo career and his work with Ultravox, Thin Lizzy and Visage.
With his current, versatile band line-up featuring India Electric Company’s multi-instrumental members Cole Stacey and Joseph O’Keefe, plus drummer Russell Field, Midge was able to cover a vast musical terrain. In fact, the line-up also offered a built-in support act, with Cole Stacey stepping into the Palais spotlight early in the evening, armed with a mandolin and pedalboard. He proved himself to be a highly skilled musician with a powerful, expressive voice. It’s not often that anyone even acknowledges a support act, let alone claps along and sings with them, as the enchanted crowd did last night.
Emerging from the Palais Theatre wings, it was no surprise that Midge was greeted with a rousing reception from those who had waited a while to see their musical champion back on an Australian stage.
“Dear God, is there somebody out there?” Midge sang as the band eased into the 1988 classic from his second solo album, Answers to Nothing. With Again We Love, the ’80s synth tones kicked in as Midge took us back to the Visage era.
Passing Strangers, the second single from Ultravox’s Vienna album, hadn’t been performed by Midge in this theatre since 1982, when many in the crowd (including myself) were in attendance to see one of the hottest bands on earth at the time. Nostalgia can be such an empowering emotion, as the many smiles across the crowd seemed to attest.
Midge had earlier mentioned a smart-arse comment that a keyboard warrior had posted on social media, enquiring whether he’d be playing “all of his hits” (singular). “I think he may have been talking about this one,” Midge said as he launched into a vibrant If I Was, his 1985 UK number-one single.
Three Ultravox deep cuts followed, including the epic instrumental Astradyne, which back in the day would have required a bank of analogue synthesisers to replicate. These days, Logic MainStage and Roland keyboards used as MIDI devices reproduce those sounds with accuracy and relative reliability.
For me, and I assume many in the crowd, hearing tunes like New Europeans and All Stood Still transported me back to the ’80s, looking down to check whether my mythical thin leather tie was straight enough!
Monument segued perfectly into the iconic Vienna, signalling that we had reached the pointy end of the show and that the hits blitz had only just begun.
“You’re gettin’ rowdy,” he told us. That violin solo towards the end of the song always tugs at my heartstrings. Reap the Wild Wind, The Voice, Fade to Grey and Dancing with Tears in My Eyes (Tasty guitar licks Midge!) were all delivered with love and passion and received with adoration and appreciation. Much of the chorus work was enthusiastically contributed by the audience.
After one of the quickest encore breaks I’ve witnessed (to beat the dreaded Palais curfew), the band returned to lay the very special Yellow Pearl upon us. The song was co-written by Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott and Midge Ure, originally for Lynott’s 1980 solo album, before being remixed for use as the Top of the Pops theme.
Ending with the majestic Hymn from Ultravox’s sixth album, Quartet, the band and crowd came together in unison for a celebratory singalong.
It had been a long wait for many to hear this music, the soundtrack to their lives. Last night, the ’80s synth-loving pop-rock community came together in a joyful shared experience to have fun and thank Midge Ure, the man who has created such a rich musical legacy.
SETLIST
Dear God
Again We Love (Visage)
Call of the Wild
Passing Strangers (Ultravox)
If I Was
I Remember (Death in the Afternoon) (Ultravox)
Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again (Ultravox)
Astradyne (Ultravox)
No Regrets (Tom Rush cover)
New Europeans (Ultravox)
All Stood Still (Ultravox)
Monument (Ultravox)
Vienna (Ultravox)
Reap the Wild Wind (Ultravox)
The Voice (Ultravox)
Fade to Grey (Visage)
Dancing With Tears in My Eyes (Ultravox)
Encore:
Yellow Pearl (Phil Lynott)
Hymn (Ultravox)
