Forty years ago, the huge Australian Made festival concert series took Australia by storm. With acts like Mental as Anything, I’m Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Modes, INXS and Jimmy Barnes, the massive tour started in Hobart before touring Australia and concluding in Sydney. It was the first travelling festival tour to feature exclusively Australian bands.
Each night of the original Australian Made tour, watching from the wings before taking to the stage for her own act was Kate Ceberano.
This year, celebrating 40 years since that first tour, Kate’s homage to this tour is being toured around Australia in a simultaneous act of grateful reflection and bold creative evolution, weaving her own platinum musical legacy into the vast tapestry of Australian music.
Now Kate is proud to present Australian Made – Live, the album – which was released on August 15.
Boasting the full setlist from the live show – spanning I’m Talking to Pash, Brave and Bedroom Eyes via classic cuts from Divinyls, INXS, Models, Renee Geyer, John Farnham, Split Enz, The Church, Sia, Silverchair, Icehouse, Paul Kelly and more – Australian Made – Live is a heartfelt tribute to the songs and artists that have helped shape and inspire Kate’s extraordinary career.
This Saturday, 11th October, Kate wraps up her huge Australian tour right here in Adelaide at the stunning Thebarton Theatre.
Kate spoke to Glam Adelaide about the tour, the music and the impact that the original tour had on her.
Last time Glam spoke with Kate, she was about to perform at the Cabaret Festival with her stunning My Life Is A Symphony tour, which saw Kate perform her hits accompanied by the brilliant Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
“It’s always a pinch me moment. It’s a privilege, and you never ever take it for granted. The breadth of talent and the amount of hours and years and devotion any musical artist gives in a symphony orchestra always amazes me. You feel like you are a leaf landing on the top of a very strong current, and that’s always beautiful. It’s like a very beautiful colourful film.”
On that previous tour, and her current Australian Made tour, Kate worked closely with the incredible Ross Irwin.
“When we were curating this tour and assembling the set list, we tried to make it like the way a film rolls – it has arcs within it that are relative to the age I was when I was meeting these people and the impact that they were having on my life through their songs. I had Ross sit in with me during a rehearsal and I asked him what emotions he was feeling at certain points. So together the two of us were also conferring on that and looking at ways to land stories and songs to bring across certain emotions.”
Australian Made – Live sees Kate pay homage to the artists and bands who not only performed with her on the original Australian Made tour, but that have shaped her life’s tapestry.
“We start with an overture of the opening stanza from an INXS’s hit. When I was putting this together, I wanted to project the feeling of being an observer, a fan of these people. So I’m singing the whole show as a fan. I’m not singing it like the original artists at all. I wanted to approach how it felt to be in the presence of these people. I talk about that through the show; for instance, there’s a section in the show we have called The Dirty Three, and we hit on early Cold Chisel, Ross Wilson and Renee Geyer, but I sing how I received it and where I was at the time those artists and the songs impacted my life.”
Audience reactions around the country have been very positive so far, as Kate shared with Glam.
“The audiences have been incredible. I’m on the drums, I’ve got two electric guitars, and I often feel like I’m the face of a woman at war – we run down these golden streets and take all of this crowd with us. At the show, by the end the audiences are just in the moment. They’re really drummed up and feeling rejuvenated by this music, and by nostalgia as well. I think nostalgia is really important, as it keeps you connected to who you were at certain times in your life, and to times that were and are really valuable to you.”
Kate cannot wait to share this very special concert with Adelaide as she wraps up her national tour at The Thebarton Theatre.
“Adelaide, I don’t know how you manage to keep it up per capita! I can really appreciate the commitment that Adelaideans make to music and culture. It’s very different from any other state in the country. Artists are driven by the desire to entertain, and Adelaide audiences want to see it, and they also want to have their senses tuned. I feel like a place has to set the mood, the tone for people. And I think that the recent renovations at The Thebarton Theatre have created a radio hall feeling. It always had it, but because of the lack of light, you couldn’t experience the architecture. The lighting really brings all of the elements together.”
Kate Ceberano – The Australian Made Tour Live
The Thebarton Theatre
Saturday 11 October, 2025
https://www.kateceberano.com
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