Vanessa Amorosi @ The Gov, Adelaide 15/4/2026
Welcome back Vanessa Amorosi! Absence certainly does make the heart grow fonder for the die hard fans of Adelaide rock city who have been waiting for this moment to arrive. Hard to believe 2023 was the last time here playing Grape Vine Gathering. Celebrating twenty five years as an artist The Gov was packed, the vibe was electric for a night filled of iconic tunes from a stoic career that are still just as relevant today as they were when they came out.
Vanessa has still got and this show more than proved that it has never been in doubt. There is something special about these collection of tunes that have sound checked some of life’s most important occasions most notably weddings. Backed by a killer band that was absolutely smokin’ Vanessa took to the stage opening with Mr Mysterious then asking for the house lights to be turned up to get a good look at the crowd with Vanessa saying “thanks for spending the night with me, sing all the songs you know”.
Charging through Have A Look and U R Mine it was smiles all round knowing that this would be a performance to remember. Feeding off the energy of the crowd City Of Angels was followed by a rollicking cover of The Doors Roadhouse Blues. Vanessa spoke about wanting to break it down a bit and “squish in some songs not normally played”. The next few were played acoustically from a list of nine and going with three including Hello Me, Every Time I Close My Eyes and Tent By The Sea… absolutely sublime.
Introduced as the wedding song Perfect melted hearts strengthening that connection with the crowd and the crowd were in awe. How could you not be? Vanessa spoke of touring Europe with Dave Stewart doing the Eurythmics things for the last couple of years going with the gospel funk number Wolf. Hazardous followed with the quip “hopefully you know this one”. From left field was The Angels Am I Ever Gonna See You Face Again bringing the crowd in to it on the chorus with the iconic line “no way, get fucked, fuck off!” It was a great moment with the crowd lifting the energy in the room and as Vanessa put it “this one is all about you guys”.
The hits kept coming with The Power followed by epic single Shine complete with audience sing-a-long. It almost looked like Vanessa was overwhelmed by the crowd response and reaction. The powerful This Is Who I Am took on greater meaning and closed the main set. Well, that left one obvious choice left to play. The mega hit single Absolutely Everybody really brought the crowd alive once more with the segue in to The Who’s Baba O’Reilly. Hot damn! That was brilliant topping off what was a great show and a strong reminder to catch Vanessa Amorosi in a city near you.
Live Review By Rob Lyon.