John Cale
City Recital Hall, Sydney
Thursday 10 July 2025

John Cale is 83 with a career as wide as it is long. Obscure nooks and crannies abound. You don't know what you're likely to get when you put your money down. If you have favourite songs, they're not guaranteed. Look, if "Waiting for my Man" ain't in the set, it will probably be the encore but that's the exception that proves the rule.

However, in a world of product, such uncertain content is rare and welcomed. Advertising for the show has certainly pointed to a career spanning retrospective performance and it kind of delivers but mostly doesn't. Cale's priority  here is to promote his latest album, "Poptical Illusion". Given his age, it might very well be his last. (Though evidence suggests he's determined to keep busy.)

Tonight, we have a band and pre-determined video projections. This is clearly a stage show travelling town to town, night to night with a separate video for each song. There's length enough on each clip to allow a certain amount of improvisation and songs tend to fizzle out at the end rather than hit a predetermined wall.

The set opens with the 2024 single (whatever that means in a digital world) "Shark Shark". I remember seeing it once on my Facebook feed before it vanished into the technological expanse of a world drowning in too much content. The video's image at least stuck in my mind long enough to serve as a reminder.

In a reference that eluded me, Cale introduces the next song as formerly known as "Captain Hook" (from 1979's "Sabotage"). He offers no alternate title and brings support act violinist Xani Kolac into the fold for a one off. I had taken in her set from the downstairs bar. It was technically proficient but hadn't really grabbed me on any kind of emotional level. Her contribution to Cale's work was more simplified but also more effective. She would have done well perhaps in an impromptu cover of "Venus in Furs" but everything is too tightly scripted to stray too far from the set list.

We are next treated to "Mr Wilson" from the "Slow Dazzle" album. This is perhaps the first song the largely greying audience recognises from the classic Island records years. The City Recital Hall is not the most comfortable of venues for a senior crowd and already the shuffle of bladder breaks across overly close seating arrangements borders into down right annoying territory.

We return to more obscure territories with "Chums of Dumpty" from the 2003's 5 Tracks EP. "Setting Fires" from "Poptical Illusions". A new song called "Long Way out of Pain."

Tired bones shuffle in the stalls. I'm guessing there are people here who haven't bought a new record since 1980. It's past people's bed times. It's cold outside.

Of the few younger audience members, most seem out of their depths in a strange land. Cale is not exactly communicative and, when he throws out a sentence, his accent appears to have somehow become thicker despite his Trans-Atlantic lifestyle.  Often, he announces things off microphone.

But his voice remains strong and his vision remains clear. He never took an easy turn when an obscure lane way beckoned. He is John Cale and you are not. You meet him on his terms and God bless him for it. It's good to see someone being an artist without drowning in pretention.

Still, he remains aware you have to chuck the audience an occasional bone and so we get "Cable Hogue" from 1975's Helen of Troy.  This is followed by one of Cale's smarter moves.

His sinister cover of "Heartbreak Hotel" successfully enabled him to remain credible as the world turned from art rock to punk. Almost fifty years later, the power of his version remains. An ode that stares into the abyss of loneliness. 

Familiarity settles the audience. Applause raises beyond the polite.

"How We See The Light" from "Poptical Illusions" is followed by "My Maria" from "Helen of Troy". We then return to "Poptical Illusions" for the night's most brutal offering, the bloodied howl of "Company Commander" that beats the album version to death with whatever blunt instrument comes to hand.

"Out your Window" from 2023's "Mercy" album follows but, for me, the evening's highlight is a stunning, almost hypnotic cover of Nico's "Frozen Warning" that shimmered and swirled and threatened to evaporate time and space.

The main set closes with "Villa Albini" from the 1984 "Caribbean Sunset" LP. Cale is 15 minutes past the announced finish time. Many rush to exit whilst the remaining horde stomp for more. They are rewarded with the expected encore. It is only at the end that Cale looks his age.

Cale remains worthy of his legend. I felt the memory of absent friends and that may have tainted the tone of my review. While it had been a great gig, if I had a criticism, it was perhaps aimed more to the head than the heart. I couldn't help but see how many writers were present. If Cale comes to your town on this tour, my obvious advice is check his more recent catalogue as this will enhance your enjoyment.

Shark-Shark
Captain Hook
Mr. Wilson
Chums of Dumpty
Setting Fires
Long Way Out Of Pain
Cable Hogue
Heartbreak Hotel
How We See the Light
My Maria
Company Commander
Out Your Window
Frozen Warnings
Villa Albani
Encore:
I'm Waiting for the Man