There are concerts, and then there are musical moments that unfold like cinematic revelations. The Whitlams with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall on 6 September 2025 was one of those rare evenings where everything aligned: light, sound, emotion, place. In Melbourne’s most sonically sumptuous room, frontman Tim Freedman and his band found themselves embraced by an 80-piece MSO storm, yet not overshadowed by its orchestral swells.
This was their first seated Melbourne show since 2017, trading sweaty standing rooms for high-backed seats and a more muted, yet reverential audience. And it suited them.
Freedman in a suit held court in his familiar place at the piano. Guitarist Jan Housden and country music producer Matt Fell on bass guitar were also up front. Drummer Terepai Richmond was on stage too – but waaaaay up the back, alongside the rest of the percussion section of the MSO. Freedman explained that Richmond had been sent up the back so that MSO conductor Nicholas Buc could “eyeball Terepai, and Terepai could eyeball him back”.
The first set centred around the story of “Charlie”, made famous from the Eternal Nightcap album. We heard Charlie No. 1, Buy Now Pay Later (Charlie No. 2) and Charlie No 3. as well as Little Cloud’s Keep The Light On which Freedman said he sometimes refers to as “Charlie number two-and-a-half” and The Curse Stops Here also from that album – about Freedman’s original two bandmates who died by suicide.
The second set featured a selection of the band’s hits, opening with two red lights (and a not-so-dodgy p.a.) with Love This City’s Blow Up The Pokies. Highlights included their biggest hit No Aphrodisiac, Gough – the song written about their namesake Edward Gough Whitlam, You Sound Like Louis Burdett, Melbourne, Year of The Rat and Thank You (For Loving Me At My Worst) which Freedman quipped has become a popular funeral song.
This wasn’t just a concert, but a conversation between pop music, storytelling and orchestral greatnest. Arrangements by Benjamin Northey, Peter Sculthorpe, Brett Dean and others emerged as both homage and re-imagining.
The set rippled through eras, underlined by a wry warmth only The Whitlams carry. And with the MSO underscoring every line, what unfolded was more than nostalgia – it was grandeur with heart, in that spectacular sound chamber on St Kilda Road.
