Pete Murray is one of Australia’s favourite performers and embarking on his biggest tour to date, with 55 stops, the singer is making sure he connects with as many fans as possible. On Friday night, Murray made it to Sydney for a near-sold-out show at the Enmore Theatre, in front of a crowd who were clearly extremely excited to see the Australian perform his biggest hits. 

For this tour, Murray is performing a largely acoustic set, with only his guitar to accompany him for the first half of the show. When Murray stepped out on stage, illuminated by only the candles, to perform “Lines” and “Bail Me Out” to kick off the set, which was an energetic start. 

Murray has a great sense of humour and it was on show at the Enmore as he had the audience chuckling as he told the stories behind the songs. Many of the stories had an element of tragedy to them but Murray ensured that these were mixed with enough humour to keep the vibes of the show high as he continued to deliver superb vocal performances. 

After a quip about an unfortunate encounter with a rugby selector, he explained that he started off as mainly a cover artist before being challenged to write an original song. That song was “So Beautiful” which has become an Australian classic and Murray sang it incredibly well, exploring the fragility of the lyrics beautifully as he held the audience in the palm of his hand. There was time for jokes as well, as Murray stopped the song halfway through to assure the crowd that they were all safe from cameras, referring to the Coldplay affair drama. But jokes aside, the performance was Murray at his mesmerising best and the appreciative audience reaction was testament to this. 

After a lively performance of “Opportunity”, Murray invited his long-time guitarist Brett Wood onto the stage for the rest of the set. Murray took the chance to explain that he is now an independent artist and took the opportunity to rerecord all of his songs, much like Taylor Swift did. 

“I didn’t know how to do it,” he said. “But then I saw how [Swift] did it and realised that’s how you do it.”

Although Murray was struggling a little with his voice towards the end of the show as he passed the midpoint of his tour, he still delighted the crowd as he performed the rest of his hits (and a few new songs for the rest of the set). “Feeler” was a particular highlight, with the crowd singing along as Murray pulled off one of his most difficult vocal songs. 

Murray closed out the night with “Better Days” which was a true crowd favourite as everyone sang along in joyous harmony as Murray gave the audience space to savour the moment as he strummed along with Wood. It was a great end to a fabulous set of music by one of Australia’s finest. 

Rating: ★★★★★

Pete Murray – Enmore Theatre – 18^th July 2025

Photo credit: Ian Laidlaw