Artist: Guy Sebastian with Bella Taylor Smith
Venue: Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Date: May 14th 2022
Reviewer: Hayley Treadwell
Photographer: Andrew Treadwell Photography

After the hugely successful release of his ninth Studio album in 2020, T.R.U.T.H, Guy Sebastian set for a huge National Tour to bring us these new songs live as well as some of his greatest hits, but as covid put a massive holt on the music industry and our lives, we have had to wait a little bit.  But it was absolutely worth the wait.  

Taking the walk from the carpark into the Brisbane Entertainment Centre it was obvious why this tour smashed expectations at the box office.  So many people, so many kids, all there to see their pop hero. And as we entered the arena my smile grew so big as I saw how huge the crowd was, the Entertainment Centre was packed to the brim! 

Finding his own rise to fame through Australian Idol, I was thrilled to see Guy have 2021’s winner of The Voice, Bella Taylor Smith supporting him on the T.R.U.T.H Tour. 

Bella has an amazing voice and it was met with a roaring reception.  She explained it was the biggest crowd she had sung to before, but that certainly didn’t show.  She owns the stage and the microphone with her incredible vocal range and control and it was a pleasure to experience as she sang a mix of original songs and covers from her time on The Voice.  She mentioned she will be back to see us soon in Brisbane and I can imagine she will be greeted with a big crowd again.

I love that ‘moment in time’ between the support act and the headliner.  I watch people as they rush to their seats, throw on their new merch and eagerly wait for, in this case, Guy Sebastian to take the stage.

A gentle hum of music filled the arena as the lights went down and then the stage screens lit up setting the scene for our star who came looking dapper in a way only Guy can, with yellow tracksuit pants, a Harley Davison muscle shirt and a long Brown Coat, he belted out the first line of ‘Before I Go’ with his deep commanding voice and the crowd was instantly in the palm of his hand.  After having Covid last week I was hoping Guy’s voice was holding up ok and I was instantly reassured that there was no issue here.  

The stage is stunning with the band up on a platform and on the main stage a 3 piece backing vocal powerhouse and a 3 piece strings section.  But none of that detracts from Guy.  He is outstanding. Singing and dancing his way across the stage, he is supported effortlessly by his backup singers/dancers and they all look like they are having so much fun. ‘Love on Display’ into the classic Bill Withers song, ‘Lean On Me’ gave a great look at how well oiled these performers are. 

Next we were treated to the first of our classic Guy songs, ‘Who’s That Girl’ after which he had a chat to the audience. He told us a story of the first time he arrived at this venue after winning Australian Idol and how special it was today to remember all those emotions, so we were treated to a song not normally in the Setlist, his Australian Idol winning hit, ‘Angels Brought Me Here’ and the crowd lapped it up!  Everyone had their phone torches on the the Arena looked spectacular. Such a special moment. 

Guy went on to play songs spanning his career with ‘Who I Love’, ‘Out With My Baby’ and ‘I’m Your Man’ before a beautifully lit up piano was bought on stage and Guy sang one of my favorite songs of his ‘Set In Stone’.  This was followed up by the ever passionate songs he wrote about mental health, ‘Standing With You’.  Guy then talked to us about his foundation and the money they have raised through this tour and continue to raise for their schools program!  

He then sung the song he has written for his sons the deeply moving ‘In A World’ before moving into ‘Bloodstone’, ‘Believer’ and ‘Battle Scars’. Guy then welcomed Bella Taylor Smith back on stage and they performed a sensational duet of ‘The Prayer’ which was met with a standing ovation!  Then more fun with Bella joining Guy for the 2009 hit which originally featured Jordin Sparks ‘Art of Love’.

After that we kinda kicked things up to party level with ‘Let Me Drink’ and ‘Only Thing Missing’.  Then Guy welcomed one of his backing vocalists, Gary Pinto to sing a song from his new Sam Cooke covers album ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ which showed off why Gary is such an in demand vocalist in Australian Music.  Then together Guy and Gary did a little version of ‘Let’s Groove Tonight’.  The Party kept going with the final song of the set being a mash up of ‘Like it Like That’, ‘Gold’ and ‘Like A Drum’, it was a real dance party in Brisbane. 

Guy thanked the amazing band and crowd and left the stage with us just wanting that little bit more and it wasn’t long until he returned to the stage with the biggest single from the T.R.U.T.H album, ‘Choir’, the crowd was dancing and singing along when guy broke it down and broke the crowd up into a 3 sections choir and taught each section their bit and we all joined in, The Brisbane Guy Sebastian Choir was awesome to be part of!

As Guy finished the song and bid us farewell.  He is a true great in Australian Music and I would recommend seeing him to anyone who wants to have a good time.  I left feeling truly satisfied that we had seen a great show, heard amazing songs brought to life on the live stage and had an allround wonderful night with Guy Sebastian.

Thanks for having us along!

Until the Next Gig

Hayley

Set List:
Before I Go
Love on Display into Lean on Me
Who’s That Girl
Angels Brought Me Here 
Who I Love
Out with My Baby
I’m Your Man
Set In Stone
Standing With You
In a World
Bloodstone
Believer
Battle Scars
The Prayer (with Bella)
Art of Love
Let Me Drink
Only Thing Missing
A Change is Gonna Come (with Gary Pinto)
Let’s groove tonight (with Gary Pinto)
Like it Like That / Gold / Like a Drum

Encore:
Choir

NEW DATES NOW SCHEDULED FOR GUY SEBASTIAN’S T.R.U.T.H. TOUR FOR CAIRNS & TOWNSVILLE

The recently postponed Guy Sebastian Cairns T.R.U.T.H. show (originally scheduled for Tuesday 10th May) and the Townsville show, (originally scheduled for Wednesday 11th of May) will now take place as follows;

Sunday 26th June 2022 – Townsville | Townsville Entertainment Centre

Tuesday 28th June 2022 – Cairns | Cairns Convention Centre

GUY SEBASTIAN T.R.U.T.H. HOBART SHOW TO BE RE-SCHEDULED TO 8th  JUNE 2022

The upcoming Guy Sebastian Hobart T.R.U.T.H. show scheduled for Wednesday 18th May 2022 will be rescheduled to Wednesday 8th June 2022 due to unforeseen circumstances.