Robert Forster is known to many as one of the founding members of the Go-Betweens but he’s also built a formidable solo career for himself, with a quirky vibe to his songwriting which has captivated audiences all around the world. For his latest album, Strawberries, he enlisted a Swedish band who have joined him on the road for his three-stop Australian tour, bringing colour to his work across his solo and Go-Betweens discography in a beautiful way. 

Kicking off at Sydney’s beautiful City Recital Hall, Forster took to the stage at 7pm and thanked the crowd for coming so early as he moved into a two-hour set, split between his earliest work with the Go-Betweens and some of his newer stuff. The depth of Forster’s songwriting was evident from “Strawberries”, “I Love Myself (and I Always Have)” and “Always”, with the singer making even sometimes mundane subject matter lively and interesting throughout this set with vivid and evocative songwriting.

There was a largely even split between Go-Betweens songs and solo numbers, with “Clouds” being one of the early highlights of the set, before Forster moved into some of his solo numbers in “Breakfast On The Train” and “All of the Time”. Forster has somewhat of a stilted persona on stage, very much reminiscent of that of Nick Cave but it worked quite well in this venue, as it brought the audience, which was not full but was lively, into his world as he worked through his songwriting. 

There was not too much audience interaction from Forster, at least at the start, as the singer preferred to tell the story through his music and continued with some more Go-Betweens songs in “Draining the Pool for You” and “German Farmhouse”, which were well-executed, before moving into “Was There Anything I Could Do?”, which was a real crowd favourite and had the audience singing along. The musicianship of Forster and his band was high and Peter Moren alongside Jonas Thorell and Magnus Olsson really added wonderful skill to the show and added to the dexterity of Forster’s music. 

A true highlight for the audience was Forster’s encore when he performed “Streets of Your Town” for the first time in 20 years, although he said it could have been up to 40 years since he’d played it. It was executed very well, with the band giving a fullness to the sound while Forster’s voice felt iconic on the classic number. He then attempted to perform “2541” as an impromptu audience request, but this only lasted 20 seconds before he moved into “Spring Rain” and “Surfing Magazines” to close out the night.

Overall, this was a wonderful show which showed off the breadth of Forster’s songwriting for the small but passionate crowd. While there wasn’t too much audience interaction, it was still an intriguing set and the presence of some big Go-Betweens hits was a nice touch in what was a beautiful night. The Swedish band supported Forster well and although the tour has been curtailed to three dates from the five around the country that Forster wanted, this is a tour that will bring a lot of joy to many. 

Rating: ★★★★

Robert Forster – City Recital Hall – 10 September 2026

Photo credit: Stephen Booth