Travis, Josh Pyke @ Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide 12/1/2026

Patience is a virtue! It is staggering to believe that this tour has been twenty five years in the making. Travis played two shows in Australia in 2001 in Sydney and Melbourne and I am still in awe that this finally happened and that it was everything it would be and a whole lot more. For a Tuesday night it was a solid crowd of Glaswegians, Adelaidians and a cross between the two to celebrate the iconic Travis album The Man Who.

Josh Pyke opened and I couldn’t think of a more perfectly suited person to be warming the crowd. Armed with his trusty acoustic guitar, loop machine and a harmonica it was forty minutes of the best from Josh Pyke. Hats off to Josh who was suffering the ill effects of a migraine who later said he was “feeling a million bucks have played live”. The only unfortunate thing was the amount of people that had to talk loudly during his set. C’mon! This is Josh Pyke! Nevertheless, it was an entertaining set starting with with Memories and Dust, Forever Song and The Lighthouse Song.

Pyke shared an “embarrassing story” about the punk band he started in many moons ago which prompted the tattoo on his arm to conceding that he wanted to write songs with a narrative and being able to tell a story thanking Travis for sending him on that journey. He also mentioned the live record with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra would be coming out later this month sharing the version of Private Education with the crowd. The song that started it all Middle Of The Hill was well received and proved popular with Pyke describing Adelaide as the “perfect crowd” and the “cross between Queensland and Melbourne”. Finishing with Don’t Let It Wait it was a chance for the crowd to warm up their vocals in the sing-a-long. The night was off to a great start.

As it approached go time the album art for Travis’ The Man Who was proudly luminated and as the lights dimmed the band took the stage to Boards Of Canada’s Roygbiv. This fan boy moment was finally being actualized! Wahoo! Right from the outset Writing To Reach You had that instant appeal and connection with the crowd. Front man Fran Kelly is so relatable on so many levels speaking about how to “jazz it up more” by making it “more spicy with a PowerPoint presentation”. What could go wrong? There were a few technological issues with the PowerPoint, “technology… just toss it over”. This is no different than using PowerPoint at work and there was a shared sense of empathy here. But the concept itself was cool taking fans song-by-song in to greater depth about each one and stories behind them. Nostalgia is definitely a wonderful thing! That insight gave the songs and even this album even greater meaning which would become even more apparent later on. Even the band reactions to the presentation was gold reliving particular moments as if it is the first time they had seen it.

Whilst there was no surprise with the set list for the first part of the set, each song was a significant moment and it isn’t until it is played live start to end in its own right where you can fully appreciate the enormity of this album. Even today, it still stacks up with the best of them continuing to build its own legacy. The Fear was incredible as was As You Are and the theme of vulnerability that runs through it. Driftwood was described as “the one that almost got away” inspired by an episode of Cheers. Turn was inspired by a writing trip to seaside town Millport but the photo out the hotel window of Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station presented a different perspective suggesting maybe some of that radioactivity seeped in to the lyrics.

The story Why Does It Always Rain on Me? was another moment of gold with the label suggesting “who wants to hear another pop song about the weather?” with Dougie assuming the voice of the label rep. The story went on about their attempt to get on TV during Wimbledon, where it normally rains, and this time no rain! But the silver lining and turning point was Glastonbury Festival becoming “band of the festival”. Touted as the unofficial Scottish anthem Fran asked the crowd to not break with tradition asking them to do “the pogo” making for quite the site. The poignant Luv was about love lost and letting go followed by She’s So Strange which was their first song written in an attempt to break on Scottish TV which they thought would be the best thing ever. Fran warned the footage is “a bit shit” and probably the most cheesiest thing you’ll see giving the crowd a few laughs. Even Fran couldn’t believe he was showing this adding that Paul McCartney thought they were a “good little group”.

Slideshow was a subtle reminder about how important music is as it bookmarks particularly points in time and slideshow of early band photos affirmed that even the photo of the car they recorded this very song in. Even the hidden song Blue Flashing Light (which followed three minutes and fourteen seconds, Pi, after Slideshow) described as the “ugly duckling” as it didn’t the album finished the first set in a flurry.

Returning after a short break the second set was all about fan favourites and Fran said they would mix it up compared to what was slated on the set list given it has been so long to come here. It was the rollicking All I Want to Do Is Rock which made their statement of intent of what was to follow. Wow! That was killer! Alive, Love Will Come Through followed and then it was the first of three “fuck you songs” Good Feeling. There was no PowerPoint for this as they kicked things up ten fold. Oh my, how good was Side? The lighting projections were top shelf and Travis were in full flight. So much so it looked like the band didn’t want to show to end. Closer was for the people we take for granted and the second and third “fuck you songs” Selfish Jean and Gaslight were tops. Fran was that in to it he broke the microphone stand going all “Freddie Mercury” with a fan down the front being given part of it scoring a nice souvenir suggesting to clone the DNA and create the “Fran Army”.

My personal favourite Flowers In The Window was an absolute highlight with the band coming to front “busking” with Fran playing acoustic. Wild! The crowd sung it with gusto prompting another surprise with Fran and bassist Dougie Payne playing a cover of Britney Spear’s …Baby One More Time while guitarist Andy Dunlop went for a quick smoke. Hard to believe that two hours had whizzed by and as reminder that we need music more than ever before it was Sing that left a lasting impression of a terrific show. Let’s hope it’s not another twenty five years before a return to our shores.

Live Review By Rob Lyon