Cowboy Junkies [Sydney]
State Theatre, Sydney
14 November 2025
The State Theatre in Sydney is the perfect venue for Cowboy Junkies. Its lushness and grandeur plays a stunning backdrop for the quiet beauty that is this wonderful Canadian band. Having visited our shore close on three years back, their first in over 20 years, their return in 2025 is for us to celebrate with them their 40 years together. The Cowboy Junkies have forged a quite unique blend of alt country / folk rock over the decades and 20+ albums, one which can soar under the angelic weight of Margot Timmins’ vocals, and as quickly be torn apart by brother Michael Timmins’ abrasive and distorted guitar work.
The night opens with ‘Misguided Angels’ and ‘Sweet Jane’, both from 1988’s The Trinity Sessions, the album that thrust the band onto the international stage. This nod to the history of the band is quickly followed by three songs from their most recent studio release, 2023’s Such Furious Beauty, with the guitar in ‘Hard To Build. Easy To Break’ cutting holes into its joyous bounce. The short first set closed with the menacing, slow blues dirge of ‘Forgive Me’, a John Lee Hooker cover that appeared on the Junkies 1986 debut Whites Off Earth Now!!
Following a short break, ‘All That Reckoning (Part 2)’ began the second set with ethereal vocals and some tasty lap steel. The next hour lifted cuts from throughout their career. ‘A Common Disaster’ from 1996’s Lay It Down raised the tempo, delivering some cutting, dirty guitar. The title cut from said album was twice as large and imposing as the studio version. A hypnotic and psychedelic soundscape, the track was a highlight with its guitar and mandolin interplay.
The mid-set, three song acoustics were an exercise in subtlety and restraint, with the uptempo bounce of the studio ‘Shadows 2’ totally removed, revealing a tender song, one where hope is near but lost. ‘I’m So Open’ reintroduced the entire band and lifted the tempo, and ‘Murder, Tonight, in the Trailer Park’ was as heavy as the rock reached tonight. It was a big sound and production, more so than on 1992’s Black Eyed Man. The night closed out with another two tracks off The Trinity Sessions, ‘Dreaming My Dreams With You’ and ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’, a lovely bookend to the opening two songs of the night.
Tonight was thoroughly enjoyable, strong and powerful music not due to the volume but for its quality of composition and delivery. Prior to the night, I was hoping for just one song off Pale Sun Crescent Moon, my entry point to the band and still a favourite album of mine. Though this did not materialised, I can say that I’m not overly disappointed. It was simply a great night of beautiful music.
