Review: Boy George and Culture Club’s show at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena

Forty years after Culture Club’s debut, Boy George is still a game changer. But, at the band’s Melbourne show, he had one gripe about being a world famous weirdo.

Boy George, of Culture Club, at Rod Laver Arena on September 9, 2023. Picture: Facebook

Pop chameleon Boy George still owns his reputation as a trailblazer and disrupter proudly. As he should.

“There was a time when I was the only weirdo in town,” the Culture Club superstar said at the band’s Rod Laver Arena show on Saturday night.

“Now they’re everywhere. But I have to be honest,” George said.

“I preferred it when it was just me.”

Forty-something years after Culture Club’s debut Boy George still stands tall as a pioneer.

Forty-something years after Culture Club’s debut — a string of global chart-toppers like Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Karma Chameleon, Victims and Church Of The Poison Mind, coupled with George’s iconic gender-fluid look — the Boy still stands tall as a pioneer.

His soulful voice, now smoky and deep, has aged well, giving new weight to classics like Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and Victims.

The band, including founding members Mikey Craig (bass) and Roy Hay (guitar), was tight and locked into grooves whether tropical (I’ll Tumble For Ya), clubby (Miss Me Blind) or dubby (Everything I Own, Eyeliner Voodoo).

Indeed, Voodoo, a heavy reggae cut about self-acceptance, released last year, shows George is still potent songsmith and commentator.

“I’m proud to be older,” Boy George, now 62, said. “In rock in roll you can pretend to be a teenager. That’s what we do up here every night.”

The man who’s lived a life of very public ups and downs, is still the cheeky, hyper-aware, self-deprecating Boy at heart.

Bravo.