Pete Murray, Powderfinger, Delta and more mark 20-year music milestones

Pete Murray’s current tour is just one of a raft of celebrations from Australia’s musical Class of 2003. See other stars marking the 20th year of their hits.

Pete Murray addressed the anniversary elephant early in his Greatest Hits gig in Sydney on Sunday.

“It’s the best of anniversary – 20 years, yes, I’m that old,” the 53-year-old musician joked.

Murray is in the middle of a nostalgia trip around Australia marking 20 years since the breakthrough of his 2003 record Feeler.

Pete Murray performs at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on July 16. Picture: Thom Crawford / Supplied.

And he isn’t the only Australian artist celebrating a significant anniversary this year.

Powderfinger, the band so many Australians fervently hope may reunite one day, will actually be in the same room next month for a special fan event to mark the reissue of their 2003 chart-topping record Vulture Street.

Author Trent Dalton will helm a Q&A after the screening of These Days Live In Concert in Brisbane on August 24.

Powderfinger in 2003 about to celebrate Vulture Street 20. Picture: Supplied

And Bernard Fanning, Ian Haug, John Collins, Jon Coghill and Darren Middleton will hang out with their loyal fans for the obligatory meet and greet.

“20 years since this album! where does the time go … I still remember plugging in, cranking the volume and all of us recording the beds to these songs in the same studio room,” guitarist Middleton posted.

“Biggest of thanks to all of you who supported our band over the years and continue to do so. We would never have imagined …”

Delta Goodrem heads out on Innocent Eyes 20th anniversary tour in September. Picture: Getty Images

Delta Goodrem, whose Innocent Eyes album swept the 2003 ARIA awards in the middle of her cancer treatment, will finally get to tour in honour of her debut record’s 20th anniversary in September.

The end of 2003 marked the beginning of the careers of the inaugural Australian Idol grand finalists, winner Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll.

Sebastian famously was handed a $1 million royalties cheque for his record-breaking post-Idol debut album Just As I Am. His reps haven’t shared any plans to mark his 20th anniversary as yet.

But it is unlikely Sebastian or his label wouldn’t be working on some kind of milestone “souvenir” for his loyal fans to add to their collections.

While artists are rarely as invested in celebrating anniversaries as they are playing their new stuff, Murray and his class of 2003 mates recognise the warm glow of nostalgia of these trips down memory lane are not only a reward for the fans who have stayed the course for 20 years but a lucrative earner after three years of interrupted touring during the pandemic shutdowns.

And these artist’s live talents are undiminished, if not more powerful, 20 years after their big breakthroughs.

Pete Murray currently on his Greatest Hits tour reminded everyone why So Beautiful is both an excellent tune and NOT the song for your wedding waltz! pic.twitter.com/Ik8GuqqeM7

— Kathy McCabe (@McCabeRadar) July 18, 2023

At the Enmore Theatre on Sunday, Murray flexed the power of his distinctive vocals by kicking off the show solo from the floor of the venue.

He teased the audience a few songs in with the opening strains of his signature hit So Beautiful before declaring it was “too early” in the set for that fan favourite.

He also referenced how the beloved track, which was mistakenly adopted as an anthem of love but was in fact about a toxic friend, as “a song you shouldn’t have got married to.”

With a simple illuminated backdrop of palm trees, a scene which could have been from his native Queensland or Los Angeles, he remained faithful to the cruisy Californian rock sound which propelled the Feeler album to No. 1 and seven times platinum sales of more than half a million copies.

In the early to mid 2000s, Murray was ubiquitous on the charts and airwaves with songs now regarded as classics, including Bail Me Out, Please and Ten Ft Tall and the hits to follow such as Opportunity, Better Days and Always A Winner.

The singalongs, and torch lights held aloft during So Beautiful, were further evidence his fans remain as connected to his 20-year-old songs as they were when they launched him to huge success.

For Pete Murray tour dates and tickets via https://petemurray.com/#shows