Dean Lewis @ Entertainment Centre, Adelaide 21/11/2024
Full of admiration having seen Dean Lewis play his biggest Adelaide show ever last night going extremely close to selling this one out. What makes this all the more sweeter is that his career started from humble beginnings and that upward trajectory does not look like stopping anytime soon. I remember one of the last shows he played here at Thebarton Theatre and his star shines even brighter now.
The excitement was fever pitch and I’m pretty sure Dean could have sneezed and that would have sent the crowd, predominantly young females, in to hyper drive. The fans were passionate, enthusiastic, sung all his songs word for word and screamed at every opportunity. To have such adulation!
Opening with Memories from The Epilogue followed by Hold Of Me and another new tune Empire the show was off to a flyer. Dean took a moment to thank the crowd for this “energy” adding that this tour is his biggest by far. He also spoke of the trials and and tribulations of dating which led to 7 Minutes. Even four songs in Dean was surprised by the crowd, I personally haven’t seen anything quite like it in a while. All I Ever Wanted Al Benson “who loves the attention” singing on the second chorus.
Cold was dedicated to the couples with Dean talking about song writing as attention seeking tackling things going on his life and going through periods of being sad and depressed. Some fans went the extra mile making signs to get his attention which it did taking a second to read some of them out with requests for a guitar pick or to design someone’s next tattoo. With mobile phones lighting up the venue it was the sequel to Be Alright with Hurtless featuring next. Chemicals and Stay Awake were great moments in his set.
Deans’ stories were great and the one that sticks out was after writing so many great songs he has hoping for that one call from someone like Ed Sheeran to do a big collab with which never came until six months ago when Rihanna’s team reached out wanting one of his songs With You. A great story to go with a great song. The next one was a big of a surprise if you didn’t have a set list spoiler alert playing a cover by “a small artist” in Taylor Swift’s Cruel Summer. Dean definitely embraces the fans and takes every opportunity to interact with them giving one lucky fan a chance to go up on stage and strum a line on Lost Without You even getting to keep it after.
The lights dimmed a bit and a B-stage lit up with Dean emerging through the back of the venue through the throng of fans to play stripped back versions of Half A Man and Trust Me Mate which were absolute winners. Returning to the main stage it was Waves, All Your Lies, a cover of Coldplay’s Fix You finishing on the aptly titled How Do I Say Goodbye. Now this was a show! How could he top this show off? Well, he did finishing on massive chart hit Be Alright. Stellar show!
For fans in the know it didn’t end there either! Roughly twenty minutes Dean and band walked up the ramp on the Loading Dock where there were a lot of fans waiting for an “impromptu” performance outside that was rumoured about and did happen. I have to say I have never ever seen anyone do this in my time going to gigs. For many it was definitely like adding the cherry on top! It was definitely one of the great shows of 2026.
Live Review By Rob Lyon