Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Amelie Farren @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide25/4/2025
The final Bluesfest side shows was on in Adelaide with a near sold out crowd assembling at Hindley Street Music Hall to see one of the world’s rising stars Rag ‘N’ Bone Man (aka Rory Graham) who finally played his first show here in Adelaide. I have to admit I’m a bit late to the party with Rag ‘N’ Bone Man but I was thoroughly impressed with the show and how he and band went about it. Definitely an under rated performer with the words memorable, captivating and enthralling coming to mind to describe the show. Incredibly humble there was an immense sense of gratitude with Rory conceding later in the show “I wondered if anyone was going to turn up”.
His band are top shelf players taking the overall performance to a whole other level but one thing is for sure he has an incredible voice that resonates with his fans and you could see how these songs connect so strongly. There is a certain vulnerability and emotional tug at the heart strings which becomes even more apparent live with his music covering many different styles from soul, blues to hip-hop. Lovers In A Past Life opened with a brief pause to say “how ya doin’ Adelaide?” it was on to Skin. The show was focused on the new album What Do You Believe In? but didn’t forget the older classics including one “that’s not out yet”. Time To Love was one of those that featured that has not officially been released… yet!
The Right Way was reflective in nature and the photos on screen from his childhood was a nice touch. Rory said to the fans “I need to level with you”. Adding that he was going to come on earlier saying that he needed to wear his glasses as he couldn’t see the crowd but thought taking them off would make him look “way cooler!” Hard Came The Rain was emotive and All You Ever Wanted was fantastic even apologising for his “terrible dancing”. Grace was a powerful moment in the set followed by the uplifting All I Know. Anywhere Away From Here was emotional and Rory said that the “big dude” he was looking at had a tear in his eye, we all felt it. Iron was about his kids who see him as a “super hero” even though “I’m winging it all the time”.
There were plenty of great tunes with Be The Man, the epic Rush Of Blood (this should be a massive chart single) coming to an end on the massive chart topper that started an illustrious career with Human. Mobile phones were out to capture this moment which was absolutely joyous. The band left the stage to return moments later with Rory joking “you knew we were coming back!”. If we had thought we had seen it all things were kicked up a notch with one of his new gems Put A Little Hurt On Me and leaving Adelaide fans with a spring in their step with the vibrant and infectious Giant (which originally featured Calvin Harris). Impressive! Now that the word is out I have no doubt that we will be seeing Rag ‘N’ Bone Man in a much bigger venue next time round.
Kudos to support artist Amelie Farren who brought her brand of indie-folk and with more eyes over her performance I’m sure there will be more people turn out when she plays in Adelaide sometime soon. Amelie covers some really deep themes and her intricate wordplay is impressive. There were some gems in her set including the likes of Jump The Gun and Unsweetened Lemonade amongst others to go and seek out.
Live Review By Rob Lyon