Newcastle audiences will get their first taste of The Whitlams’ celebrated orchestral collaboration when the band teams up with the Sydney Philharmonic for a show at the Civic Theatre in March.
Following four national tours, the one-night-only show promises a sweeping retrospective of the band’s career, with more than 35 Sydney Philharmonic musicians joining The Whitlams on stage.
“Once every seven or eight years, we get to perform in the middle of the beautiful storm of a symphony orchestra,” Tim Freedman said.
“I am so glad to bring it to Newcastle at last, which has always been our greatest regional supporter.”
The set list features arrangements crafted by some of the country’s most acclaimed composers and arrangers, including MSO Principal Conductor Benjamin Northey, Sean O’Boyle, Jamie Messenger, Nicholas Buc, who will also conduct the show, and the late Peter Sculthorpe, who was a close friend of Freedman.
Fans chasing the classics will be served up signature songs like No Aphrodisiac and Blow Up the Pokies in full symphonic form, alongside deeper cuts from releases like the 2022 release Sancho and 2024’s Americana-tinged long player Kookaburra.
Since their beginnings in 1992, The Whitlams have carved out a distinctive path through the Australian music landscape, starting as an acoustic trio playing weekend afternoons at the Sandringham Hotel in Newtown.
In the early years, Freedman, Stevie Plunder and Andy Lewis crammed their instruments into a station wagon and headed off to faraway lands like Byron Bay, Melbourne… and Newcastle. The songs the band would play on those tours would later resonate nationwide.
Their 1997 album, Eternal Nightcap, went double platinum and earned ARIA Awards for Group of the Year, Best Independent Release and Song of the Year. Subsequent albums, including Love This City and Torch The Moon, cemented their place in the Australian music canon.
The band’s collaboration with orchestras began in the early 2000s when Freedman joined the Australian Chamber Orchestra on tour, performing Whitlams’ songs alongside Arvo Pärt.
By 2004, the band had made history as Australia’s first symphonic indie act with two concerts at Kings Park in Perth. Since then, they’ve performed with every state symphony orchestra, including a dozen sold-out shows at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and a live recording of Keep the Light On with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
The Whitlams with Sydney Philharmonic hits the stage at the Civic Theatre Newcastle on Saturday 14 March, 2026. Tickets for the show are on sale now at civictheatrenewcastle.com.au.
