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THE CHURCH
@ The Gov
4th December, 2025
(Live Review)

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The Church / Photo – Adam Nicholas

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A hot evening in Adelaide welcomed a full house to The Gov to see The Church perform the final night of their singles retrospective tour.  There would be no support band tonight but rather two sets from the band to try and give them enough time to fit in as many singles as they could. “do you like singles?” front man Steve Kilby asked at one point “ah you superficial lot” he joked with the audience.  From the very start there was a palpable warmth in the room that had nothing to do with the barmy evening heat coming in from the opened doors to the beer garden.  There was warmth from the band to the crowd and vice a versa, a feeling of love between artist and their audience that felt so right.  Somehow seeing The Church at The Gov seemed so perfect and made last year’s gig at Hindley Street Music Hall, great as it was, feel cold and sterile by comparison.  This was something special.

It was apparent that Steve was somewhat struggling with a cold, he described it as having the forty day cough.  However, he did a great job to manage the discomfort that it was causing him, only on very rare occasions missing notes or phrasings. He did so well and never let that cold drag him down or effect his performance and throughout the gig he was so genial, good nature and full of humour and comedy.

Kicking off with ‘Columbus’ and ‘Electric Lash’ before moving into ‘Tear It All Away’ and it’s lyrics “people say well you just had to be there” seemed very apt for tonight, the full house at The Gov were certainly in agreement.  The band were sounding amazing, Steve was holding us in his control perfectly and in-between he was being very funny and engaging.

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In between songs Steve chatted with the audience. The long preamble into ‘The Unguarded Moment’ and how he had sold his soul to the devil in return for a hit single and an appearance on Countdown only for it to turn into an Aussie pub classic was brilliant.  Just to re-enforce the pub classic idea Steve included “No way, get F#%ked, F#%k off” into this live version.  At this point he confessed that he was suffering from a very sore throat and really shouldn’t be doing the show but he was “because I love you and I also have a small blister for my thumb” in yet another comic gag.

The percussion on ‘Block’ was incredible in fact Tim Powles playing was amazing and passionate all night but it really stood out on this track.  It must be hard to find a space within the three guitar sonic memorable melodies that The Church produce but Tim finds a way. His passion all night really stood out.  ‘Metropolis’ was was another simply amazing song; it left me wondering if this is the finest band playing live in Australia right now, they really are that great.

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‘Reptile’ was a wonderful way to go to the intermission.  The searing guitars were screaming out and the light show was on steroids!

After a short break they returned for the second set, “your support band were rubbish but you are much better” someone shouted out to which Steve replied “after years of playing live I can’t actually hear anything so I’ll just assume that was something nice”. ‘When you were mine’ followed ‘Almost with you’ before Steve went into a prolonged and heartfelt introduction of the band.  He made gentle gags at their expense and they replied with short jams featuring ‘T-Rex’, “Lou Reed’, ‘The Beatles’ and an impromptu rendition of happy birthday for the drummer.

The audience weren’t hugely animated but rather were gently swaying, deeply engrossed in the music – it was a thing of beauty to be a part of.  The 12 string guitar that made an appearance on ‘Already Yesterday’ added something extra and the version of ‘Under The Milky Way’ which Steve said “would be Australia’s new national anthem after I’m dead” was almost spiritual.

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However, as good as everything that had gone before had been, the closing number ‘Tantilized’ was better.  The first set had more jokes but the second set more of the beautiful sonic assault from the three guitars. No one wanted it to stop, the crowd were dancing from the front of the stage to back of the room and probably out in the beer garden too.  I was stood close to guitarist Ian Haug and he certainly looked as though he enjoyed playing that one!

They came back for the two song encore and Steve introduced ‘Sacred Echos’ and said that the band have had the audacity and nerve to record a new single.  It is always hard for a band to introduce new songs, especially when the crowd has come on the promise of the old hits.  This new song started slow and featured shared vocals between Steve and Ian before building into something that easily held its place with the other material.  Closing with a rousing, raw version of ‘Space Saviour’, guitars washing over the crowd for a last time in a finale to a great celebration of The Church’s career.

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Follow THE CHURCH
Website – Instagram – Facebook
Twitter – YouTube

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Press Release 7th November 2025 (below) HERE

THE CHURCH
announces new single
‘SACRED ECHOES
(PART TWO)’

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AMNPLIFY – DB