Midge Ure, Cole Stacey @ The Gov, Adelaide 10/10/2026
There is lot more to Midge Ure than being a member of Ultravox in the 1980’s. His musical journey has also included stints with Rich Kids, alongside former Sex Pistols guitarist Glen Matlock, Visage and even a brief spell with Thin Lizzy. He also co-wrote and produced the charity single Do They Know It’s Christmas although it wasn’t on the setlist tonight. When one wag in the audience called out Feed the world, Midge cheekily replied, “Can’t quite put my finger on that one.”
Cole Stacey opened proceeding, delivering a wonderful set of original and classic folk songs. Cole hails from Devon in the U.K. and he had a few English fans in the audience. Armed with only a mandolin and a beautiful voice, Stacey held the crowd in the palm of his hand throughout his short but enthralling performance.
Feast or Fire opened his set, after which he introduced himself as Joe Dolce Junior. A few people looked momentarily surprised before getting the joke. Originally recorded in a church, Song for the Moor followed, then “a song you will know as it was a hit here. It was one of the first songs I connected to musically” he told us. The song was Those were the Days, a song I probably haven’t heard played live since I saw Mary Hopkins in 1972. Stacey then delivered a powerful a cappella rendition of Hard Times Come Again, his commanding voice filling the room without the need for any accompaniment.
With great stories and equally impressive music, Stacey was clearly enjoying every moment on stage. “You have made this boy from Devon extremely happy. Thank you,” he told the audience before departing to warm applause.
However, Stacey wasn’t gone for long. He returned as part of Midge Ure’s band, switching to bass and keyboards. Drummer Russell Field, sporting a skinny tie and white shirt, looked every bit the English bouncer, while Joseph O’Keefe completed the lineup on keyboards and violin.
Billed as the Catalogue: The Hits Tour, the show promised a journey through Ure’s extensive career, and that was precisely what we received. He opened with the song Dear God from his 1988 solo album Answers to Nothing. While it may not have been a hit here in Australia, it showed there was a lot more to Midge than Ultravox songs.
Again, We Loved from his days in Visage, reminded us how great a guitarist he is and after the song he commented, “I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather be. Perhaps the Bahamas”.
After another solo effort in Call of the Wild he cheekily said “Here we go, into the deep Ultravox past”, bringing out the superb Passing Strangers. By now, it was clear that this wasn’t simply a case of recreating the original recordings with banks of synthesizers. This was a genuine band performance, with the musicians bringing fresh energy and depth to the material.
If I Was showed his voice has not changed since the songs first release in 1985. Again, we went “deep into Ultravox” with a run of I Remember (Death in the Afternoon), Your Name (Slipped My Mind Again) and one of the evenings highlights, the instrumental Astradyne. The song gave the band room to move, musically, including giving Joseph O’ Keefe a chance to show his ability with the violin.
“Here is a song I didn’t write. You can tell I didn’t write it as it is good,” said Midge with a smile on his face. Midge had heard it on Top of the Pops, “when most of you were little boys and girls” and liked it so much he decided to cover it. The song was No Regrets originally by Tom Rush.
It was back to Ultravox with a guitar driven New Europeans and a powerful All Stood Still. Yet it was another solo song, in Monster, which stood out again. It was a hard-hitting instrumental that was obvious Midge was enjoying playing on stage. It was earth-shattering and when it led into the synth sounds of Vienna, the room erupted. This was Ultravox’s defining song and it still stand up as a great song today. It was a joy to hear it live yet again.
From there, it was time for the hits. Reap the Wild Wind and The Voice had the audience singing along, before Ure introduced Fade to Grey with a knowing “You know this”. The familiar Visage classic filled the room, taking us back to another important chapter in his career. Dancing with Tears in My Eyes then brought the main set to a fitting conclusion.
“This is where we are supposing to go off and you yell and scream for us to come back and we do, trying to look surprised. We can’t be bothered,” said Midge, remaining on stage. “Some you might remember this”, he continued as the Phil Lynott tune, used for Top of the Pops theme, Yellow Pearl flowed forth. A nice touching tribute to Phil. The evening concluded with Hymn, a grand, uplifting song that provided the perfect finale to a thoroughly satisfying performance.
Florence King once wrote, “Nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories.” I have plenty of disjointed memories associated with Midge Ure’s music, some good and some not so good. But tonight, he brought those memories together, weaving them into a musical journey that spanned decades, bands and musical styles.
This was far more than a trip down memory lane.
Live Review by Geoff Jenke