Katie Noonan, Mark Wilkinson @ The Gov, Adelaide 30/07/2026

Celebrating the release of her milestone thirtieth studio album, Alone But All One, Australian vocal powerhouse Katie Noonan brought a beautifully stripped-back performance to The Gov. Accompanied only by her own piano and an exquisite String Quartet, Noonan set out to share these raw, personal new tracks in the setting they deserve: close, honest, and unfiltered.

First up was singer-songwriter Mark Wilkinson, who gave us songs about love and life with just his voice and a guitar. A seasoned performer who has opened for icons like Brian Wilson, Kings of Leon, and Santana, Wilkinson achieved a rare feat for The Gov, the moment he stepped on stage, a hush fell over the audience. For the entirety of his set, the crowd sat captivated.

Starting with the gorgeous, Love High, Mark admitted he quite liked sad songs and that even his happy songs sounded sad. After the equally lovely Let the River Run, Mark told us “I was wondering what I should play tonight, and I thought I should play my biggest hits, then I realised I don’t have any”. With a smile he said, “so I will play this one, it has the most YouTube plays of all my songs” The song was a bare stripped back version of Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love and received an arousing cheer at the end.

We were asked to participate in a “call and response” song, “like Freddie Mercury at Live Aid” and audience certainly did supply the whoa whoa’s and heeey heey’s during the song, Mariposa, sometimes known as, Revolution Calling. “I will finish with the happiest song I have written, but it will be still a sad song to you”. Reborn closed out a great set and Mark left the stage to wild applause.

Having once been named SiriusXM’s “Discovery of the Year” in the United States, it was easy to understand why after this performance.

When Katie Noonan and string quartet arrived on stage, Katie informed us someone had stolen the chord chart to the opening song. Without missing a beat, she said “Welcome to the soundcheck” as she worked out the chords for the song, Alone But all One, from the new album of the same name. She explained that the record had almost been called Birth and Death of Love, but after hearing the opening song it was clear she had chosen the perfect title.

“I never meant to write this album, but the songs just fell out” Katie continued after the opening song. The second song, Everything You Know, was Katie’s first collaboration with acclaimed writer Trent Dalton, following her self-acclaimed philosophy, “Life is weird and wonderful”. Throughout the evening, the string quartet—Cameron, Sara, Stephen and Tom—provided subtle, elegant accompaniment, adding rich textures without ever overshadowing Noonan’s expressive piano playing or extraordinary voice. As the album was to be played in full, in order, When the Heart Falls Apart, followed, with only the string quartet for accompaniment.

Katie also acknowledged her musical past, revisiting a song that “premiered in Adelaide in 1999”, Special Ones. Originally recorded by the band george, of which Katie was a part of, it was played to the joy of the audience.

In Your Shoes and This Isn’t What I Signed up For, were, like most of the songs this evening, preceded with stories about the songs and reflections of life gone by. Katie then bought Mark Wilkinson out to sing one of his songs, Embrace the Ride, Mark singing to Katie’s piano accompaniment. One of the evenings highlights. Wonderful!

As the first half of the album concluded, Noonan joked, “Time to turn the vinyl record over,” introducing side two with A Coward’s Punch. The song was both delicate and emotionally devastating, reinforcing the deeply personal nature of the material.

“Shall we do Bluebird?” asked Katie, not really needing to ask the question. Singing the song, she had the audience in the palm of her hand. Waiting for God was a set highlight and after a piano only Let Me Wak, she closed the set with what is “probably the saddest song I have ever written”, Nothing Woman.

But was it the set closer? Katie told us before the song, “if we clap enough, they may do one more, but we won’t do the walk off and come back on bullshit”. The comment bought a laugh, as well as a lot of clapping after Nothing Woman. Another george song, Breathe in Now did indeed close the set, sending the audience home on a note of nostalgia.

Katie Noonan’s voice is indeed exquisite and the string quartet of Cameron, Sara, Stephen and Tom added to its beauty. It was an evening of honesty, beauty and quiet emotional power that resonated through every corner of The Gov.

Live Review by Geoff Jenke