Review and photos by Craig Eriksson
PETE MURRAY – PIER BANDROOM – FRANKSTON – VICTORIA – 09.01.2025
It was a wonderful kick start to 2025 seeing Pete Murray perform his Wouldn’t It Be Good Summer Tour at the Pier Bandroom in Frankston, Victoria performing to a packed bandroom at this sold out show.
It’s hard to believe that I first saw Pete Murray 20 years ago back in November 2003 at the Ferntree Gully Hotel (The Middle). Pete Murray had released the Feeler album in the same year which had caught my attention and was on high rotation within my circle of friends. We couldn’t wait to see him live and we absolutely loved his show and have been fans ever since. Over the past two decades, I have seen Pete Murray perform at multiple festivals and live music venues and have watched him flourish.
Back Story:
Pete Murray is an Australian Singer/Songwriter born in 1969 in Chincilla, a rural town in Queensland, Australia. His family moved to Brisbane when Pete was 16 and sadly 2 years later his father died from a heart attack at 47 years young when Pete had just turned 18 at the time. Seeing this made Pete decide that he wanted to enjoy and make the most of his life and not waste it. Pete became a rising Rugby Union football star and had the chance to make the Australian team for the Hong Kong Sevens. Unfortunately he badly injured his knee that led to him having to leave rugby behind. Pete was studying medicine and in his spare time taught himself how to play acoustic guitar. He initially played at friends BBQs and then small venues. He recorded an indie EP called D Day in 2001 and then released his first album The Game in 2002, but thought he wasn’t really getting anywhere in Brisbane. So he moved from Brisbane to Melbourne and shortly after, recorded and released his breakthrough sophomore album Feeler in 2003. By this time his reputation was building fast and his music gained popularity as radios stations like Triple J, Nova and Triple M played his music. Pete Murray has gone on to become a multi-platinum selling artist who has sold over 1.2 million albums, released three ARIA chart-topping albums & boasts 17 ARIA Award nominations. He has released 7 albums and 2 EPs over an impressive 20 year career. These days Pete Murray lives in Byron Bay with his family and travels the world performing his music.
The McCredie Brothers were the support tonight and consist of two brothers playing acoustic rock. They warmed up the crowd beautifully creating a fun, feel good vibe with songs like Lost Without You and I’ll Be There.
Pete Murray and his band opened with the catchy ALWAYS A WINNER from Blue Sky Blue (2011) and he introduced each band member right from the first song as they jammed along to the song. You could see that Murray has a lot of love and respect for his band and said they make him sound good. Next was SUGAR from Summer at Eureka (2008) album. BAIL ME OUT from Feeler (2003) had the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs creating a beautiful harmonious ambience in the room.
Murray had a wonderful connection with the crowd and talked in between songs about his music, band and life journey, which added depth to his lyrics. He announced that he has returned to releasing music as an entirely independent artist. He then launched into his new single, WOULDN”T IT BE GOOD. This new song has Murray’s signature sound and has powerful lyrics:
“So nobody feels any pain no more, Look where we’ve come from you and I, Our world has changed so much it’s time, Time for a better change right now, Let’s light the night and make each other high right now.”
Watching and listening to Pete Murray perform, he is a very laid back, down-to-earth, but charismatic kinda guy. He and his band are always smiling throughout the show. He plays what I would call a very soothing blend of rootsy acoustic rock grooves with elements of folk and even pop and soul. His voice is smooth, calming and his songs feature raw emotion and feel-good, positive lyrics. Tonight, Murray played a good mix of songs from his 7 albums. Over the years, he has cultivated a reputation for his live shows and the crowd were in fine form singing along to literally all his songs as they have catchy hooks and sing-a-long choruses.
SEE THE SUN from See The Sun (2006) is a dreamy song highlighting the quality of this tight-knit band. The keyboardist shines in this song and they then led into FALL YOUR WAY from Feeler (2003) and saw the multi-talented keyboardist also play the flute. THIS PILL from See The Sun (2006) is a very chilled song that had the drummer providing the perfect backbeat to this track.
CLASS A was next released in 2005 for the See The Sun (2005) album featuring a thumping drum solo.
BLUE SKY BLUE from the album of the same name and is an uplifting song with lyrics:
“Blue Sky Blue, Come on close your eyes and realise, What your dreams want you to do, If the dream is gone, it ain’t all wrong, You gotta drag yourself on through, And it’s up to you now.”
OPPORTUNITY from See The Sun (2006) had the crowd singing along so loud they almost blew the roof off the Pier Bandroom. It gave me goosebumps listening to what can only be described as a well harmonised Pub Choir singing with passion.
SO BEAUTIFUL was the most popular song tonight and Murray and his band shined so bright in this song that it was blinding. No words can describe how excited and captivated the crowd were during this song and how amazing this song sounded with everyone singing along.
HURRICANE COMING from Blue Sky Blue (2011) highlighted how tight the band are and how much they all enjoy performing together. FEELER from the album of the same name is the opening track on the Feeler album and highlights Murray’s wonderful soulful vocals. FREE from Blue Sky Blue (2011) has more positive, motivational lyrics:
“As high as you know, You will make the distance, Even if everything is falling down, But don’t lose that vision, And don’t lose your courage, Until you are standing right here with me now.”
Murray’s lead guitarist played several solos throughout the night and the bass player, keys and drummer kept the smooth groove flowing beautifully.
The encore saw Murray perform with his harmonica and acoustic guitar SAVING GRACE from his 4th studio album Summer at Eureka (2008), which is a love song. During the evening they conducted a free raffle at the merch stand and the prize offered was a surfboard, with Pete drawing the winning ticket during the encore. Pete then said the next song is a cover that he used to play over 20 years ago at friends BBQs and gatherings and he then sang a beautiful version of ONLY YOU by Yazoo from their 1982 album, Upstairs At Eric’s. The crowd loved this song and sang along holding their phones up in the air with the light on, creating a sea of lights that looked truly amazing.
The show concluded with crowd favourite BETTER DAYS from See The Sun (2005), which was a fitting song to end the evening and had everyone smiling and joining in on the chorus.
At the end of this flawless 90-minute show as I looked around the bandroom, there was an incredible vibe with everyone grinning with satisfaction that they had just experienced something very special.
Wouldn’t It Be Good Summer Tour 2025 –
Fri 10/01/2025 DUNSBOROUGH, WA
Sat 11/01/2025 RAVENSWOOD, WA
Sun 12/01/2025 ROTTNEST ISLAND, WA
Tues 14/01/2025 TORQUAY HOTEL, VIC
SET LIST:
ALWAYS A WINNER
SUGAR
BAIL ME OUT
WOULDN’T IT BE GOOD
SEE THE SUN
FALL YOUR WAY
THIS PILL
CLASS A
BLUE SKY BLUE
OPPORTUNITY
SO BEAUTIFUL
HURRICANE COMING
FEELER
FREE
Encore:
SAVING GRACE
ONLY YOU (Yazoo Cover)
BETTER DAYS