Jeff Buckley and Australia 1995-6

Contents

Introduction
Australia
Releases
Tours
Live tracks
Interview at the Butterfly House
Led Zeppelin
Dave Lory, Manager
References

----------------------

'Till the next time, and the next time, and the reunion tour...... (Jeff Buckley, last full band live concert, Sydney, 1 March 1996)

Abstract: American singer, songwriter and musician Jeff Buckley (1966-97) had a special relationship with Australia, touring there in 1995 and 1996 where he was very warmly received. His September 1995 concert at the Phoenician Club, Sydney was recorded for a Triple JJJ Live at the Wireless episode and later mastered by him for a never released live album. The February 1996 Hard Luck tour would prove to be his final series of concerts with a band, before descending into a morass of drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness which stifled his talent and ability to record a follow up album to his landmark Grace LP. Released in August 1994 to widespread critical acclaim internationally, it has gone on to become a classic of the era. Buckley's tragic death by drowning in Memphis on 29 May 1997 immortalised him alongside other rock victims of drugs and neglect, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and his father Tim Buckley. The present article provides an account of Buckley's two Australian tours and includes copies of ephemeral posters and t-shirts, reminiscences by audience members and musicians such as Jimmy Page, plus audio and video recordings of interviews and concert performance. Despite the passage of nearly 30 years since his death, Jeff Buckley remains a popular artist across the generations, and in Australia particularly.

----------------------

1. Introduction

The present writer was never into Jeff Buckley, being born in 1956 and very much a child of the 60s and music fan of both that era and the 70s. By the 90s - the period in which Buckley came to fame - work and family commitments were too much of a distraction to allow for a deep dive into his artistry. However, since 2000 the writer had become a big fan of his father Tim Buckley (1947-75), especially his early acoustic work, and even way back in the mid' 1970s had purchased the famous 1972 hit album Greetings From LA. As part of the 2000 era deep dive into Tim, during November 2001 the first significant biography of the two was purchased, namely Dream Brother - the lives and music of Jeff and Tim Buckley (Browne 2001). Needless to say, Jeff did not feature in the reading of that text. Yet, despite that, over the years since then, a few of his recordings had been purchased. They were rarely listened to, being somewhat jarring and eclectic when compared to his father's output. The writer never picked up on the magic of Jeff's music until almost a quarter of a century later.

It was therefore something of a surprise - a shock even! - when early in 2025 the writer's 16 year old daughter pointed out that one of her favourite songs was Jeff's 1993 breakup anthem Forget Her. As a result of that, the present blog was researched and written, along with one concentrating on the aforementioned song and another listing readily available examples of his live work All of these are linked above). Along the way a lot was discovered about Jeff Buckley, namely: (1) he had an incredible voice, with extensive range and one which even surprised one of his idols - Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin; (2) he was an amazing song writer, musician and performer; (3) his work was full of emotion, moving over into anger and rage expressed through his vocal dynamic and musicianship on the guitar; (3) he had a tragic end, from early 1996 going downhill and drowning in May the following year; and (4) finally, he had visited Australia during 1995 and 1996 and was warmly welcomed there. As an amateur historian, especially interested in psychedelia and rock from the 60s through to the present day, these elements of the man immediately peaked the writer's interest. So read on....

-------------------

13 February 1996, 5 ft x 6 ft 8 inches banner 2-piece poster, .

2. Australia

During a brief period of international fame between 1991 - when he featured in a New York memorial concert to his late father Tim - and death by drowning in Memphis on 29 May 1997, the American musician, singer and songwriter Jeff Buckley (1966-1997) achieved unprecedented popularity in Australia. Local audiences and music fans had in many instances previously picked up on foreign musicians and performing artists well before the rest of the world, including The Beatles, Rodriguez, ABBA and Jeff Buckley. The latter twice toured the country to sell-out audiences - in 1995 and 1996. Sales in Australia of his album Grace (1994) were substantial, indicative of widespread early acceptance. As Google AI noted:

Jeff Buckley's album Grace achieved significant sales success in Australia, becoming an eight-times platinum record and selling approximately 600,000 copies, according to JB Hi-Fi. While the album's initial global release saw modest sales and mixed reviews, Australia embraced it early. One theory for this success is the heavy airplay the album received on Triple J, a national youth radio network, which helped propel it to popularity in Australia.

This article presents a broad historical outline of Australia's engagement with Jeff Buckley, both during his lifetime and beyond.

------------------

3. Releases

The following is a list of official Jeff Buckley Columbia / Sony Music Australia releases on LP, cassette, CD and video from 1993 up until 2025. Whilst the majority were general international releases though locally printed, a number during his lifetime were issued in connection with Buckley's two Australian tours and to satisfy demand:

So Real CD single, Australian tour 1996.

1993 - Live at Sin-é 4 track CD EP
1994 - Grace advance, 3 track sampler cassette
1994 - Grace 10 tracks CD album
1995 - Last Goodbye CD 3 track single featuring Last Goodbye x 2 plus Kanga-ro
1995 - Eternal Life CD 4 track single
1995 - Grace + Australian Tour Live EP 2 CD 10 track album, including 4 track EP. Includes tour sticker
1996 - So Real CD 3 track single to accompany the Hard Luck Australian tour. Included tour dates sticker
1996 - The Grace EP 4 track EP. Including 3 tracks from the "Board Tape" recorded live on "The Hard Luck Tour '96" at Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Australia on 28th February, 1996
1998 - Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk 2 CD album
1998 - Everybody Here Wants You 5 track CD plus 4 videos
2000 - Mystery White Boy: Live '95 - '96 - Australia only bonus disc cassette 2 CD 17 track version
2000 - Live in Chicago 16 track VHS tape / DVD
2001 - Live at L'Olympia 11 track CD album
2003 - Live at Sin-é Legacy Edition double CD 16 track album plus 4 videos DVD
2003 - Mystery White Boy + Live in Chicago 12 track CD album plus 16 video DVD
2004 - Grace - Legacy Edition 23 track 2 CDs album + 7 track DVDs
2007 - So Real - Songs from Jeff Buckley 14 track CD compilation album
2009 - Grace Around the World 17 track DVD + CD
2010 - The Jeff Buckley Collection CD 16 track compilation album
2016 - You and I 10 track CD album - unreleased tracks

Jeff Buckley's ongoing popularity in Australia is evident from the above listing, and also the various Jeff Buckley memorial concerts and cover bands which have appeared over the years. A recent example is the 2024-25 Jeff Buckley Grace 30th Anniversary Tour by Australian singer Katie Noonan, celebrating the release of Grace in August 1994.

----------------------

4. Tours

Jeff Buckley and his band are known to have performed 22 times in Australia in association with the 1995 Mystery White Boy tour and 1996 Hard Luck tour. They played across the country, in the following localities: Melbourne (8), Sydney (7), Perth (2), Brisbane (1), Newcastle (1), Tweed Heads (1), Canberra (1) and Adelaide (1). It is also possible that Buckley, either alone or with band members, made impromptu appearances. Band members for both tours included:

Jeff Buckley, rhythm and lead guitar, dulcimer, organ, harmonium
Michael Tighe, rhythm guitar
Mick Grondahl, bass guitar
Matt 'Snakebite' Johnson, drums.

Johnson left the band at the end of the Australian tour and did not feature on any subsequent studio recordings.

------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Australian tour: 28 August - 6 September 1995 - The Mystery White Boy Tour.

1995	Venue
Monday 28 August	The Metro Theatre, Sydney
Thursday 31 August	The Lounge, Melbourne
Thursday 31 August	The Roof Top Cafe, 3RRR radio, Melbourne (unplugged)
Saturday 2 September	Gaslight Music, Melbourne (unplugged)
Saturday 2 September	Prince Patrick Hotel, Collingwood, Melbourne
Sunday 3 September	The Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne
Tuesday 5 September	Phoenician Club, Sydney
Wednesday 6 September	Phoenician Club, Sydney, Live at the Wireless

This was part of a world tour which took the band to Europe, the UK and across America, Japan and Australia. Columbia celebrated the latter with the special re-release of the Grace CD, accompanied by a four track live CD featuring gigs in the United States and Japan.

Grace Australian tour, CD x 2, 1995

Following his arrival in Australia, Buckley was interviewed by the ABC on the date of the first gig at the Metro. He was ever reticent of interviews and invasive in responding to questions, though around this time usually polite. He engaged as best his could, aware of the need to promote his music to as wide an audience as possible. The media was interested in Buckley upon his arrival due to his popularity on the main Sydney youth music station Triple JJJ, which was a co-sponsor of the tour.

* Jeff Buckley ABC interview + The Metro, Sydney, 28 August 1995, YouTube, duration: 4.55 minutes.

This television segment in the above was produced by ABC Australia and recorded in Steyne Park, Double Bay, Sydney. The journalist who conducted the interview was Jane Cunningham. The concert footage was filmed at The Metro Theatre in Sydney, on 28 August 1995.

A live interview with Jeff ran on the ABC radio Triple JJJ Morning Show on 29 August 1995.

Jeff Buckley, Morning Show interview Triple JJJ, 29 August 1995, jeffbuckleyworld, 20 August 2017, YouTube, duration: 18.20 minutes.

The Australian Mystery Boy tour dates featured gigs in relatively small venues seating up to 1,500 people, and took place in only the two major capital cities - Sydney and Melbourne. It was organised by the Frontier Touring Co.

It would appear that sound board recordings were made of all the Sydney and Melbourne concerts, though only a few were ever officially released. A recording of the full Phoenician Club concert is available, as is one for the Gaslight Music acoustic 'Unplugged' gig, another at The Athenaeum, and the Rooftop gig.

* Jeff Buckley - The Roof Top Cafe, 3RRR radio, Melbourne, TheRightEarofNash, 31 August 1995, YouTube, duration: 26.24 minutes. Set list: 1:41 Last Goodbye 6:20 Grace 13:55 That's All I Ask (Nina Simone cover) 19:00 Lover, you should have come over.

An brief unplugged concert was held and recording at a music store in Melbourne on 2 September 1996.

* Gaslight Music, Melbourne, 2 September 1995, YouTube, duration: 38.20 minutes. Acoustic (unplugged) performance. Set list: 1. Last Goodbye 1:00 2. Lover You Should Have Come Over 7:50 3. So Real 17:05 4. Grace 22:53 5. Mojo Pin 31:10.

@Bassistgak, YouTube, 2022 - Thanks so much. I was at this gig, such a wonderful Human. I still remember him hanging around after and signing things for a massive queue after he played. I joined the queue just to say thanks for the music. When it was my turn he asked me what I wanted him to sign, I said I just wanted to say thanks and said he could sign my jacket arm if he likes. He said sure but that it was too nice of a leather jacket to ruin so he signed it it black marker, what a man! I also saw him at the Palace in St Kilda, that is still the best gig I ever went to. Cheers again mate. This brought back a lot of memories.

* White__Light, Reddit, 2022 - In September 1995, Jeff did his first tour of Australia, including a live performance at the record shop Gaslight Music, in Melbourne. I was lucky enough to see that in-store performance - as well as two of the other Melbourne gigs - and I also got the chance to meet Jeff after the show and get my copy of Grace signed.

Craig live Jeff Buckley [autograph], Melbourne, 1995.

The following are further released recordings of live performances from the 1995 tour.

* That's All I Ask, Prince Patrick Hotel, Melbourne, 2 September 1995, YouTube, duration: 5.18 minutes.

* Jeff Buckley - Live at The Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne, 3 September 1995, Mercedes Beene, YouTube, duration: 92.49 minutes. Bootleg quality.

Setlist: Chocolate/Mojo Pin, Dream Brother, So Real, Lilac Wine, Last Goodbye, What Will You Say, Eternal Life, Kick Out The Jams, That's All I Ask, Grace, Lover, You Should've Come Over, Hallelujah, Vancouver, Kanga-Roo (cut).

* Jeff Buckley - Phoenician Club, Sydney, 6 September 1995, Beff Juckley, 28 February 2023, YouTube, duration: 62.12 minutes. The following Phoenician Club, Sydney recording is a powerful show. It was subsequently broadcast on Triple JJJ radio station as part of the Live at the Wireless series, and of the 16 songs sung on the night, 10 were included in the 60 minute presentation. Those songs not in brackets in the set list below are included in the YouTube copy:

Set list: 0.00 1. Dream Brother 8.20, 2. Mojo Pin 14.37, 3. So Real 19.50, 4. Last Goodbye 24.38, 5. What Will You Say 31.50, 6. Lilac Wine 37.42, [7. Grace ..., 9. Kick Out the Jams ..., 10. The Way Young Lovers Do ..., 11. That's All I Ask ....,] 12. Lover, You Should Have Come Over 46.07, Introduction of the band 46.10, [13. If You See Her, Say Hello ...., 14. Hallelujah ....,] 8. Eternal Life 51.40, [15. Vancouver ....,] 16. Kanga-ro 62.12.

The version of Eternal Life in the above video is frenetic, and a standout. See the comments by his manager Dave Lory regarding Jeff's view of the performance and recording.

The following comments by ElleOnWheels, dated 10 September 2021, comes from the Setlist.com site:

So, so fortunate to have been at this concert. The Phoenician Club was a wonderfully weird old building in Sydney (think it's gone now). I remember there were heaps of gigantic bouncers - most were Maoris or Fijians and they kind of formed a cordon around the back of the audience. Now I know 'Hallelujah' was probably his best known song (or cover), but I mention it because when he started singing it in that angelic voice - well that was exquisite enough - but THEN - in a chorus near the end of the song, I could hear this other level of soft sound - and it was all those bouncer guys singing in harmony. I'm tearing up as I write this. It didn't seem to be pre-arranged and maybe some of them belonged to some church choir - but it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. Of course - the concert was beyond awesome as well. JB's early death was a massive loss to this world.

The following comment is from the YouTube video page: @davidodoherty, July 2025:

I was a big fan of 'Grace' but had somehow been too slack to get a ticket before they were all sold out. The Phoenician Club box office told me on the phone that there would be limited tickets sold on the night so I went along with my two friends Matcham & Mike. It was a wild Winter night in Sydney: cold, windy & wet. We huddled in a vague queue on Broadway along with thirty or so others, while ticket holders passed us by and were let inside. It was really unpleasant and at some point Mike announced that he had had enough, and he took off home. Matcham & I hung in there doggedly, and after about two hours we were at last sold tickets and let in, soaked to the bone and freezing cold. We just had time for a couple of large whiskies at the bar before Jeff and the band came on. Both of us are well over six foot so we stood pretty much at the centre of the hall, being warmed by this sea of people taking in this enormous performance. The sound was impeccable, the band imperious, Jeff's voice powerfully immaculate... it felt like a religious experience. At one point I remember easing forward through the throng to join the truly devoted in the front section, so I could focus more on Jeff's face as he powered out these epic songs. He was in jeans and a white vest, low slung guitar, not too much movement but so much energy going into the performances. The crowd at the front were like enchanted disciples, steaming and sweaty, sliding around and across each other, communing in a sea of love, awestruck by what they were experiencing. At some point it must've ended, and I guess we all went home. I probably lay in bed with a high pitched ringing in my ears. I know I was aware of having seen, heard and been a part of something truly special.

* Jeff Buckley interview - King Hint Show, Triple JJJ radio, Sydney, 6 September 1995, YouTube, duration: 20.00 minutes. Comments: After his first Australian visit in August 1995, Jeff spent the whole night out on the town. He came into triple j, King Hint radio show, early that next morning having not been to bed. Affable, but not entirely focused, the interviewer Richard Kingsmill spoke with him about some of the artists that have inspired his life like The Supremes, Bad Brains, Patti Smith, John Spencer Blues Explosion, Shudder To Think and The Grifters.

* 1995 Australian Tour t-shirts - it is unclear whether some of these are original / vintage or produced after the event.

Vintage Mystery Whiteboy tour t-shirt designs.

The success of the initial tour resulted in another the following year, also promoted by Frontier Touring and Triple JJJ. This time it began with a concert in New Zealand

-----------------------------

2nd Australian tour: 9 - 29 February 1996 - The Hard Luck Tour

1996	Venue
Friday 9 February	St James Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand
Monday 12 February	Royal Theatre, Canberra
Tuesday 13 February	Newcastle Workers Club
Thursday 15 February	Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Friday 16 February	Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Saturday 17 February	Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Sunday 18 February	Festival Hall, Brisbane
Tuesday 20 February	Seagulls, Tweed Heads
Thursday 22 February	Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
Saturday 24 February	Belvoir Amphitheatre, Perth
Sunday 25 February	Sandringham Hotel, Perth
Tuesday 27 February	Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Wednesday 28 February	Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Thursday 29 February	The Palace, Melbourne
Friday 1 March	Selina's, Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney \| bootleg

The 1996 tour was more expansive than the previous year's, playing more dates and to bigger venues, moving up from circa 1,500 seats to 2,500+. It opened in Auckland on the 9th, where Buckley recorded a brief interview.

Jeff Buckley interview, Auckland, New Zealand, 9 September 1996, YouTube, duration: 4.20 minutes.

The Australian leg moved to Canberra on the 12th February and ended at Selina's in Sydney on 1 March 1996.

A So Real EP single was released in connection with the Australian leg, and featured a tour dates sticker on the cover. The tour was managed by the Frontier Touring Co. and Triple JJJ radio station, an affiliate of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).

Vintage Hard Luck tour t-shirt design.

The following are available audio recordings of 1996 Australian tour concerts.

* Palais Hotel, Melbourne, Hallelujah, 28 February 1996, duration: 8.41 minutes. Also available from this cart are: Grace 5.25; I Woke Up in a Strange Place 5.06; Mojo Pin 5.17; Eternal Life 5.58, Moodswing Whiskey 5.37, and Lilac Wine 5.19.

* The Palace, Melbourne, 29 February 1996, (full concert), duration: 134.05 minutes.

Set list: 1. Dream Brother 2. So Real 3. Chocolate/Mojo Pin 4. I Woke Up In A Strange Place 5. What Will You Say 6. Last Goodbye 7. Moodswing Whiskey 8. Lilac Wine 9. Grace 10. Eternal Life 11. Kick Out the Jams 12. Edna Frau (intro cut due to tape swap) 13. That's All I Ask 14. Lover, You Should've Come Over 15. The Man That Got Away 16. Sweet Thing 17. Dead Already (with Dave Shouse) 18. Hallelujah

* Selina's Coogee Bay Hotel, Sydney, Australia, 1 March 1996, duration: 123.08 minutes. This is Jeff Buckley's last ever full band concert.

Set list: 1. Mood Swing Whiskey 7:31 2. Dream Brother 10:41 3. Mojo Pin 6:01 4. Last Goodbye 6:18 5. Lilac Wine (Nina Simone) 4:04 6. Grace 6:02 7. So Real 5:13 8. Eternal Life 7:57 9. What Will You Say 7:53 10. Kick Out The Jams (MC5) 4:49 11. Edna Frau 5:15 12. Woke Up In A Strange Place 7:56 13. Lover, You Should've Come Over 9:13 14. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun 6:06 15. Dink's Song (Fare The Well) (traditional) 8:10 16. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) 9:40 17. Vancouver 4:21 18. Kanga-roo (Big Star) 5:14 19. Instrumental 3:55.

Following Jeff's death in 1997, Columbia released two significant items during 1998: Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk double CD album, and the Australia-only Everybody Here Wants You five track CD, which also included four videos.

Everybody Here Wants You, 1998

The latter included a version of Long Goodbye live in Sydney. In recent years there had been an audiophile resurgence of interest in LP recordings, and a number of versions of the Grace album have appeared in black and coloured vinyl and with replica packaging from the original release.

------------------

5. Reminiscences

The following are reminiscences from the original Australian gigs back in 1995 and 1996, many of which are derived from Facebook.

* 1 July 2017, Facebook, Frontier Touring (accompanying a reproduction of a yellow and black 1995 tour poster included at the head of this article):

22 years ago today, Jeff Buckley in the midst of his 1995 tour that saw him performing in Melbourne and Sydney three times each across ten days. As well as his haunting rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, Buckley performed his much-loved modern classics including ‘Grace’, ‘Lover, You Should Have Come Over’ and ‘Last Goodbye’. His effortless yet emotion-filled performance sent shivers down the spines of countless fans who described it as something they would never forget. Jeff Buckley is an artist that is sorely missed by all and it was an absolute honour to play a small part in his incredible career.

* Sim Whitton: I saw 2 of his 3 shows in Melbourne. Just magic. And he did an awesome Dino (flinstones) impression! Sad to have lost such talent way too soon.

* Daniel Miles, Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah may not have reached its heights without Australia, ABC News / Live at the Wireless, Sydney, 14 September 2024. Text:

When Jeff Buckley's hauntingly beautiful studio album Grace was released 30 years ago, the US Billboard charts' response was muted at best. It was August, 1994. Disney's The Lion King soundtrack had a stranglehold on top spot, only to be eclipsed by Boyz II Men and Eric Clapton thereafter. Grace limped its way to 149 in the US Billboard 200, having been met with middling reviews. Rolling Stone gave it just three stars — labelling Buckley a singer "who doesn't know what he wants to be", dismissing his now seminal cover of Hallelujah as "not battered or desperate enough". With the benefit of hindsight — three decades worth, in fact — both Buckley and his debut album are viewed in a much different light.

Jeff Buckley released just one studio album before his death. Grace is a striking look at the unfulfilled promise of one of the 90s' brightest stars, a turning point from the post-grunge scrambling of the Seattle sound to a heart-wrenchingly open, honest and beautiful sound full of vulnerability and mastery. And in Australia, that was known well upon release. And without need for hindsight. While much of the world learned of Buckley's musical beauty posthumously, Australia adored him in his prime.

The strong, mutual love between Jeff Buckley and Australia.

As we revisit Jeff Buckley's 1995 Live At The Wireless, we look at his strong bond with Australia. Buckley's first and only studio album rocketed to the top 10 in the ARIA charts upon its release in early 1995 [1994], eventually peaking at ninth position. As Seattle's iconic grunge continued to develop and Pearl Jam's Vitalogy broke all number of Billboard records, Buckley's dulcet melodies were firing up Australian charts like nowhere else.

"Why Australia in particular? It's a tricky one," Buckley biographer Jeff Apter said. "I think it's something to do with authenticity. Australian audiences can really spot a bullshitter. And when they saw him play they knew, it was like, no, this guy's real. He's bleeding on stage, that's absolutely authentic." Grace would eventually sell more than 560,000 copies in Australia and reach eight-times platinum status. "The reality is, though Australia was one of the markets that embraced Jeff early on, in the States, when Grace came out, it was seen as a very big disappointment," author Alan Light told Double J's The J Files. "It wasn't really that popular in his lifetime. It didn't have that big an impact; he didn't have that big an impact." France was the other market where Grace shined — receiving gold certification.

Jeff Buckley's two tours of Australia left a lasting impression. Buckley toured Australia twice before his death, with his shows down under subsequently being seen as the stuff of legend. "It was, and still is, as close to a perfect concert I’ve ever seen," former Triple J director Richard Kingsmill said during the album's 20th anniversary celebrations. Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, told the ABC after her son's death that he loved his time in Australia. "He loved Australia, adored Australia," Ms Guibert said. "It was so exciting for him to be there, the response was that palpable for him."

Buckley died after wading into a section of the Wolf River in Memphis on May 29, 1997, singing the chorus of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love before a passing tugboat pulled the 30-year-old under and into its wake. His body was discovered five days later downstream near the iconic Beale Street, the home and heartland of Memphis blues. The majority of Jeff Buckley's chart success has been recorded posthumously. Ten years later, his cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah was finally released as a single, reaching number one on the US Billboard Digital Songs Sales chart the following year. "In Hallelujah … it was as if he recorded his own epitaph. It became the song that was affiliated with him after his death and I think took on a lot of his other emotion and meaning," Light said.

Grace is now considered an inimitable classic. David Bowie was quoted in Rolling Stone as naming Grace the best album ever made, while Bob Dylan considered Buckley to be one of the greatest songwriters of the decade. His idols, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, both raved about the album, with Page at one stage labelling it the album of the 90s. The cover art to Jeff Buckley's Grace has become iconic globally. Australian singer-songwriter Katie Noonan was enamoured by Jeff Buckley the moment his music hit our shores. It was while watching Buckley perform at an RSL on the Gold Coast with her brother, Tyrone, and other founding members of her band George that Noonan had her Buckley moment. Tyrone and Katie Noonan, songwriters in the 90s hit band George, credit Jeff Buckley as a major influence. "A bevy of us went down to kneel at the alter of Jeff, and the concert was so full-on that my brother almost fainted three times," Noonan said. "We were watching one of the greatest concerts of our lives, and it did really feel like we [Australians] embraced it, there's just something about that album and Australian audiences."

Noonan believes Grace has stood the test of time, aging like only a fine Lilac Wine can. It's part of why she's preparing a tribute concert for early 2025, where she'll play the entire album in full with a young band including her son Dexter on drums. "Grace was just such a seminal record in that it changed so many people's lives, and … it changed my life." It was U2's Bono who described Buckley as "a pure drop in an ocean of noise". Julie tells ABC Radio Melbourne's Rafael Epstein how Jeff Buckley's song was playing during a life changing moment. For Jeff Apter, who utilised that quote in his book title A Pure Drop, Australia's instant love affair with Buckley kept the home fires burning while the rest of the world played catch-up. "We kept it in people's ears, in their minds," he said. "The last tour he played with his recording band from Grace was here in Australia in Sydney, so you know, there's a lot of legacy but also history here." And as for Rolling Stone? It changed it's tune, installing Grace and Buckley's cover of Hallelujah among the top 500 albums and songs of all time.

* 17 July 2025, Facebook, Henry Fenton (written in response to the announcement of a new documentary on Jeff): I was lucky enough to see him twice, once at The Enmore Theater in Sydney, and then my friends band Cactus Child opened for him at Selinas, Cactus Child were beyond wonderful to invite me to the gig. They played an incredible show, as did Jeff Buckley and his band..... dhf.

* Jeff Buckley - You and I, ABC TV, Sydney, 2 November 2020, YouTube, duration: 6.26 minutes. A personal commentary.

------------------

5. Live tracks

The following is a list of known and available Australian live tracks from Jeff Buckley's two tours, arranged according to song title. Whilst full set lists are know for some of the gigs, it appears that a number of soundboard concert tapes exist, selected items from those have been released, with only the two final 1996 concerts at The Palace, Melbourne and Selina's Hotel, Coogee Bay, Sydney, available in full. All songs are by Jeff Buckley and fellow band members unless otherwise indicated:

All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun

6:06 - , 1 March 1996

Chocolate / Mojo Pin (see also under Mojo Pin below)

Jeff Buckley and Australia 1995-6

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Michael Organ - publications

Michael Organ - webpage index

Metropolis Japan 1929 release