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Melbourne live reviews

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The Hives perform at Forum Melbourne, July 19, 2025.

One of the best live bands in the world is finally back in Melbourne

To attend a concert by The Hives is to be inducted into a sweaty, euphoric cult for just over an hour of frenetic power.

  • Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Jessica Nicholas, Tony Way and Cameron Woodhead

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Tricia Paoluccio channels Dolly Parton’s vocal mannerisms and expressions impressively.

This Dolly Parton musical has a wafer-thin plot – but who cares when the music’s this good?

You’ll have a much better time if you go in expecting a tribute concert over a fully integrated musical.

  • Cameron Woodhead, Vyshnavee Wijekumar and Tony Way
Yael Stone and Ash Flanders (rear) with Sigrid Thornton in Mother Play for Melbourne Theatre Company.

Sigrid Thornton strips away the glamour in sweeping tragicomic vision

Yael Stone and Ash Flanders star as the queer children of Thornton’s ageing beauty in Mother Play, a domestic drama spanning decades.

  • Cameron Woodhead
Michael Whalley as Winston Smith and Chloe Bayliss as Julia in Shake & Stir’s production of 1984.

George Orwell intended 1984 to be a satire, but this play shows it’s close to the truth

While the design is impeccable, the slow creeping unease of the text doesn’t translate as easily to stage.

  • Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Michael Dwyer and Sonia Nair
Seann Miley Moore in Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

This drag punk rock musical is magnetic and not to be missed

A global cult sensation since it was born in the clubs of New York in the late 1990s, Hedwig and the Angry Inch stands the test of time.

  • Will Cox and Jessica Nicholas
Pete and Bas perform at Max Watts on June 8.

I don’t know what this show was, but it was the most fun I’ve had in ages

Are Pete and Bas actors? An elaborate bit of performance art? And does getting answers to these questions really, actually matter?

  • Will Cox, Cameron Woodhead, Sonia Nair and Karl Quinn
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Suki Waterhouse performs at the Athenaeum on June 6.

She’s a ‘model, actress, whatever’. And in her first Australian gig, her charisma is undeniable

In this all-ages performance at the Athenaeum, the lighting and smoke create an intense ambience that complements Suki Waterhouse’s stage presence.

  • Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Leila Lois, Cameron Woodhead, Will Cox and Andrew Fuhrmann
Marlon Williams performs at Rising Festival.

This concert was truly special. What a way to kick off winter.

Peruvian theatre company Teatro La Plaza has created a radical reconfiguration of a classic tale.

  • Karl Quinn, Cameron Woodhead, Andrew Fuhrmann, Tony Way, Will Cox and Barney Zwartz
Ichiko Aoba

When she starts singing, the crowd falls into complete silence

When Ichiko Aoba plays, even the slightest disruption, such as the crunch of a can or the thud of a footstep, is met with a dirty glance.

  • Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Michael Dwyer and Cameron Woodhead
Paula Arundell in The Birds

What happens when a famed sinister thriller is stripped back to its bare bones?

This version of The Birds eschews flashy design to focus on intensely rendered performance.

  • Cameron Woodhead, Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen and Tony Way

Original URL: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/melbourne-live-review-wrap-6g5h