Vera Blue
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
July 11, 2026
Vera Blue is back at Hamer Hall four years after her first collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra when she performed just before the release of her second album ‘Mercurial’. This time, one month before her third album ‘Modern Rituals’ Is released, she returns to another sold-out crowd, presenting ‘Orchestral Veil’—a stunning reimagining of her catalogue that transforms familiar songs into something completely new.
From the opening notes of ‘Mended’, it’s clear this wasn’t going to be a standard orchestral crossover. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Leonard Weiss, wraps Vera Blue’s songs in rich, cinematic arrangements by Alex Turley that feels as though they’d always belonged together. Every swell of strings, every brass flourish and every delicate woodwind passage add another layer of powerful emotion, regularly delivering goosebump moments throughout the night.
The setlist moves effortlessly between fan favourites and newer material. ‘Go Lucky’, ‘All The Pretty Girls’, ‘Lie to Me’ and ‘Heart Still Works’ all take on new life with the orchestra behind them, while ‘Private’, ‘Parallel Desire’, ‘Ritual’, ‘In the Corner’, ‘Regular Touch’ and ‘Lady Powers’ feel bigger and more expansive than their recorded versions.
One of the night’s most memorable moments comes with the live debut of ‘Brittle Wings’, from her upcoming album ‘Modern Rituals’, due for release in August. Introducing the song, she admits, “This is quite a moment. When I first heard the arrangement for this show I was mind blown.” It’s a fitting introduction to a song that already feels destined to become a live favourite, with the orchestra elevating its emotion even further.
There are plenty of personal moments between songs too. Before performing ‘Hold’, Vera Blue shares that it was one of the very first songs written for the Vera Blue project, while ‘Settle’ is given extra significance as she celebrates the song’s 10-year anniversary. These little reflections make the evening feel intimate despite the full-scale of the orchestra production.
“This is something that I would have dreamt about as a little kid. I mean, I look at that harp over there! When I was like four years old, I grew up in a small country town and when I was very little, my mum asked me what instrument I wanted to learn. I said the harp. I ended up learning the violin, so I’m just in love with the string section over here,” she exclaims.
Another highlight is ‘Maze’, the most recently released new song from ‘Modern Rituals’. She introduces it as being about “the ritual of return” and how “sometimes it’s important to get lost, to be able to find your way back to yourself again,” Vera Blue delivers one of the evening’s most moving performances.
Throughout the evening, Vera Blue’s voice remains the centrepiece. Effortlessly moving from delicate whispers to soaring choruses with perfect pitch, she never allows the orchestra to overshadow the emotion in her songs. Instead, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an extension of her storytelling, adding colour, tension and warmth without ever stealing focus.
The closing run of songs showcases just how well this collaboration works. ‘Rushing Back’, her hit with Flume, explodes with orchestral energy, while a haunting cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ serves as a haunting encore and one of the night’s most unexpected and beautiful moments.
Tonight, Vera Blue’s music had been carefully reimagined in a captivating and beautiful way revealing details and emotions that weren’t always obvious in their original form. The evening celebrated where she’s been over the past decade while offering an exciting glimpse of where she’s heading next.
Words by Michael Prebeg
