Vera Blue, Jem Cassar-Daley @ The Gov, Adelaide 27/8/2026
Phenomenal! The upward trajectory of Vera Blue (aka Celia Pavey) continues riding high with the release of her fourth album Modern Rituals. It is a spell binding album that continues to look at her inner self and having that sense of self awareness without needing to fix or change anything. It is a classy album that follows eight rituals and eight identities told through eight songs. The live experience elevates and takes these new songs to a whole new level. It is a bold move to play the entire album but each of these new songs has its own charm and story that is begging to be played.
Jem Cassar-Daley is an artist on the rise and on the eve of the release of her debut album tattoos used to come off in the pool there is no doubt that even bigger things are in store. It is always tough playing to someone else’s crowd, but Jem has an endearing allure that the crowd warmed to. Her stories and life stories behind the songs made them even more relatable from the drama of dating, heartbreak and relationships the whole emotional rollercoaster of such ups and downs was covered. Wow, there are some moments of gold in her set with the likes of Changes, Cliches, King Of Disappointment and the Cyndi Lauper cover Time After Time got plenty of attention and got the crowd singing along.
It felt like The Gov transformed into a theatre during the break in readiness for Vera Blue to take the stage. There are so many great Australian artists doing great things right now, but it would definitely be remiss to overlook Vera Blue. This is her moment and if any album is going to catapult anyone into the limelight on an even bigger scale it will be Modern Rituals. The listening experience is one thing, but the live experience was truly exceptional.
No moment of weakness, this show was meticulously put together like a well woven tapestry. Even the setlist was well considered and flowed seamlessly from one to the next making for the perfect performance piece. The production created a range of different feels to complement the theme of Modern Rituals. Right from the outset what was striking was those dark red lights and seeing Vera Blue emerge behind a sheer curtain. Very gothic-like and the outfit worked brilliantly with that theme with a black corset-style bodice and large skirt with ruffled shoulder pieces that looked like wings and those identifiable long locks. It would have been a challenge to work with given the size of the stage but she did it brilliant.
Opening song Brittle Wings set the scene flowing effortlessly in to Parallel Desires. We were all echoing the sentiment of ‘wow’ numerous times during the performance. More people should be talking about Vera Blue. After Fingertips Vera Blue asked ‘what’s up Adelaide’ introducing Adelaide to Modern Rituals. With what she described as the biggest week of her life since the album came out there was an overwhelming sense of gratitude explaining what this meant to her. At times she looked surprised and in awe of the response to her songs saying “keep up the singing, that’s some high energy shit.” Maze was one of those songs that genuinely surprised her by the reaction and is another affirmation of how great this album.
I would be very surprised if anyone walked out disappointed with what was experienced at The Gov. There was a long line of fantastic songs from the likes of Private, Lie To Me and Mended. After Curse it seemed like a natural turning point with the next part of the set had more of a “grounding” and relaxing feel and with an outfit change it was like shedding or some sort of emotional cleansing that happened. It wasn’t all just about the new album with the likes of Lady Powers, All The Pretty Girls and moments of gold with Regular Touch and Flume cover Rushing Back standing out.
The encore was memorable with Vera Blue describing the show as “phenomenal, I hadn’t heard Maze sung back like that before, so powerful’. There was a tribute to Dolly Parton with Jolene which was heartfelt and genuine with the crowd joining in also finishing on her triple J Like A Version Radiohead cover Creep which was sublime. Vera Blue has definitely evolved in to an elite performer and one we should be incredibly proud of. It was also a touch of class to make the fans night heading out to the merch stand to ‘meet and greet’, sign copies of her album and take a few selfies making it even more memorable.
Live Review By Rob Lyon