2025 has been a massive year for Irish artists in Australia. Dermot Kennedy brought Misneach Festival here in March, while Kneecap completely dominated everything they did a few months back. And now we’ve got James Vincent McMorrow reminding everyone he’s got one of the best voices as he returns to our shores with a cover-to-cover showing of his debut album. Returning to Australia for the first time in eight years, McMorrow has come brandishing a 15 year anniversary of his first album, Early In The Morning. Announcing less than a handful of shows so far in support of the tour, Sydney’s Metro Theatre was privy to only the second show of this anniversary tour, only beat out by a London gig last week. And while London may have got his first show, based on his Metro set, the Sydney crowd has his heart.
Promising to play Early In The Morning from front-to-back, I was thrown back to the first time I saw McMorrow in early 2014. It was New Years Day at the inaugural Falls Festival in Byron Bay. Everyone was hungover and fighting for their life looking for any form of shade from the scorching January sun. Taking to the stage in the afternoon sun, McMorrow rolled onto the stage in singlet and shorts before swiftly commencing his set. With the southern hemisphere UV doing absolutely nothing for him, McMorrow played a slick 45 minute set, featuring a variety of tracks from Early In The Morning and his, at the time, yet to be released second LP, Post Tropical. From that afternoon, I was hooked. Whether it was I saw a bit of myself in him or not (I too am pale, thin, have a beard, have heritage stemming from Ireland and a self-deprecating humour that borders on self-hatred), I rinsed Early In The Morning in my shitty 1997 Toyota Starlet as I fanged it up and down Sydney roads on my way to uni that year. Now here, 11 years later, we’ve both grown up considerably (I even have a newish car), and yet his debut is still as pure as ever.
Playing the show sans band and only with an acoustic guitar, McMorrow regaled the crowd with a variety of stories and jokes from his life over the past 15 years, from playing in rooms to no people, to live television performances that didn’t quite go to plan (for him, the show or his booker), or recording an album in a small Texan town that is now in the news regularly for all the wrong reasons. And in all these stories and songs, McMorrow still showed the enthusiasm and heart he’s put into all his music for the past decade and a half.
With a set split evenly into two halves (the front half being Early In The Morning and the second half a ‘best of’ of sorts), there was more than enough for all JVM fans over the nearly two and half hour long show. Early and notable highlights came from the opening track “If I Had A Boat” (‘If I knew I’d still be singing this 15 years later, I’d definitely think about writing and singing it differently the first time’) and “We Don’t Eat” (‘I really wanted this to be successful’), while choosing to play his cover of “Higher Love” really hit the sentimental sweet spot (“I love playing this song because my mum loves it, and I love my mum’).
The best songs in the front half came in the form of “From The Woods”, with McMorrow stepping out from behind the mic beckoning the crowd to join him in the closing choruses, “Breaking Hearts” and “And If My Heart Should Somehow Stop”. Taking a short break to recoup before recommencing the show, he returned with the aforementioned ‘best of’ second half and completely dominated from the get-go. With nice touches of “Red Dust” and “Cavalier” from Post Tropical, he sprinkled the second set with other fan favourites like “Get Low” (featuring cheeky backing vocals from the crowd), “Rising Water” and surprise appearances from his cover of “Wicked Game” and Lana Del Rey’s “West Coast” (‘Ive had to re-learn this in a day, so bare wth me in case its terrible).
For a one-man show, you could tell McMorrow was so thankful to the Sydney crowd for turning out on a Tuesday night for an artist who had been absent from the country for the better part of a decade. Genuinely thanking the crowd and Australia for always respecting and loving his music, McMorrow left the stage as quickly as he entered, not before promising to return sooner than he did since his last visit. Acknowledging he had felt uneasy about buying into the whole anniversary tour thing, I’m glad he put these reservations aside and chose to put on these shows. Based on this set, James Vincent McMorrow will have fans in this country for a long time, whether it be with new music or with songs we’ve all grown older and wiser with over the past 15 years.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
James Vincent McMorrow plays two more shows on his Australian tour. For more details, head here.
