photos by Nick Soto

Awash in smoke machine haze and adorned in trippy paisley shirts, Steve Kilbey, and fellow members of The Church brought their unique brand of eighties Australian psychedelia to The Bearsville Theater in Woodstock on Wednesday, July 1.

While psychedelic rock and Woodstock usually conjures images of Jimi, Janis, Jerry, and head shop black light posters, The Church’s down under sound exists at the nexus of Floydian dark psych, new wave, and jangle pop of the 1980s.

Kilbey, now the band’s only original member (the group was founded in 1980), interspersed stories about life as a rock and roll road warrior with two sets of career retrospective songs — part of The Singles: 1980-2025 tour.

After opening with the catchy minor-key 1986 single “Columbus,” Kilby took to the mic for the first of many entertaining interludes. “You like the singles?” asked Kilbey. “So superficial. I’m more of an albums guy. This next song [Electric Lash] is such a single, it couldn’t have been plural.”

“Electric Lash”, off the band’s third album Seance is famous for its huge snare sound. But, it was the slide guitar of an unleashed Ashley Naylor combined with the electronic wizardry of percussionist/synth/soundfx maestro Tim Powles that impressed at Bearsville. Powles, who was fun to watch all night behind his dream rig of electronics and hand percussion, is the band’s second longest tenured member. He joined the group in 1994.

Later in the set, Kilbey quipped that a critic once wrote that Seance sounded like Puff the Magic Dragon on bad acid, but it’s a record that has been rediscovered and reconsidered by modern record collectors.

Kilbey mentioned that many of these singles come with a bit of context. For instance, early single “Tear It All Away” was apparently the product of a large dose of LSD and a telepathic conversation with Kilbey’s Persian cat. Who knew?

Some members of the audience seemed to grow impatient with Kilbey’s lengthy stories in the first set, but at least for me, the “behind-the-music” tidbits added entertainment, humor, and insight to what it’s been like for Kilbey as working rock and roll musician for parts of five decades.

That said, the music and stage show did speak for itself. The band’s psychedelic shirts and rock posturing blended perfectly with the excellent light direction and stage smoke. And the mix – it simply very well balanced all night. I continue to urge people to go to The Bearsville Theater because the sound is much better than many clubs of its size. On “Tear It All Away” the guitar blend was particularly robust with the sound of Ian Haug’s 12 string blending nicely with the distorted, delay-heavy bends of lead guitarist Naylor.

The first set highlight was “Unguarded Moment”, the single that put the band on the map in 1981. The riff is a piece of power pop perfection and Kilbey’s cool, aloof vocals and poetic lyrics build to one of the great call and response outros of early 80s pub rock. I was singing the background vocals back to Kilbey along with everyone around me.

Kilbey also told a great yarn about “Unguarded Moment”. The Church was playing shows to empty theaters until the band was given a chance to appear on an Australian television program called Countdown to perform the song. He recalled that after their weekend appearance, they played a Monday night show in Melbourne and the number of audience members in attendance went from about seven people to 900. “It was rags to riches.”

Kilbey also recalled a memory of rock and roll rebellion: he once played a gig in the hinterlands of the Australian countryside where he could tell that the audience was only there to hear The Church play its one “hit.” He told the band they just shouldn’t play it, and much to the chagrin of his manager, Kilbey and company had to scramble away and make a run out of town to avoid angry villagers with pitchforks.

I can sympathize with Kilbey about the challenge of playing the same songs night after night, but I also have to say that I’m awfully glad I had my “Unguarded Moment.”

Not all of Wednesday night’s show was eighties nostalgia though – The Church has 26 albums and Kilbey is always working on something new.

“The Hypnogogue” was a slice of dystopian sci-fi from 2023’s concept album of the same name. And 2006’s “Block” was punky poetry reminiscent of Leonard Cohen or Lou Reed’s talk-singing which built to an epic instrumental crescendo. The climax saw utility man Tim Powles accentuating the beat by hammering his cymbals with a pair of maracas.

The Church have been using a rigid setlist all tour and these songs are now tight in performance and faithfully recreated in tones, textures, and solos. In short, they sound and awful lot like the recordings.

The first set closed with one of the band’s most recognizable riffs, launching the group into the gorgeous arena-ready sound of 1988’s “Reptile”.

The second set brought an unexpected wardrobe change by the band into even more rock and roll-ready paisley and brooding dark ensembles that looked good under the lights. “Almost With You” opened the set, followed by the post-punk of “When You Were Mine”.

Tunes like “Destination” and “Another Century” had clear connections to late-era Roger Waters and Pink Floyd, while “Western” was a sneak preview of new and unreleased material, suggesting that Kilbey is far from done.

While The Church moniker is now essentially a torch being carried by Steve Kilbey since the departure of guitarist Peter Koppes in 2020, this group feels much more like a band than a solo project. Particularly impressive was guitarist Ashley Naylor, who during band introductions launched the group into a spirited version of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”. He killed not only the guitar solo, but also the Stephen Stills-esque lead vocal. I can’t say I saw that coming – it’s why you have to buy the ticket and leave the house on a Wednesday night.

While the first set felt a little stronger than the second in terms of the material, The Church certainly knew how to close things down. Fans awaiting the group’s lone American Top 40 hit “Under the Milky Way” (which peaked at No. 24 in February of 1988) got what they came for towards the end of the set. The featured track off of the album Starfish began with twelve-string strumming from tour manager Matthew Wicks, who ably stepped in for regular rhythm guitarist Jeffrey Cain (Cain is unable to tour for health reasons). Powles electronics and dueling EBow guitar effects from Naylor and Haug were the perfect late night backing track to the audience singalong chorus. Cell phone videos abounded.

Kilbey pleaded with the audience not to leave after “Under the Milky Way” and Naylor made the late-night diehards laugh as he started playing Chicago’s “If You Leave Me Now”. Those that stuck around were rewarded with an intense take on 1985’s “Tantalized” which features a machine-gun guitar intro and a huge drum sound from Nicholas Meredith.

What I truly appreciate about The Church is the amalgamation of their sound. On a single tune like “Tantalized” there are elements of punk, pub rock, new wave, and psychedelic rock. Before the tune, Kilbey told people to stick around for good rock and roll and maybe critics like me shouldn’t overthink it – The Church gave the Woodstock crowd two plus hours of good rocking.

For the encore, Kilbey commented on the beauty of the Bearsville Theater, something nearly every artist I see there mentions for good reason.

First encore “Sacred Echoes (Part Two)” sounded like modern indie rock that wouldn’t be out of place on an album by The National. Again, the piece combined Kilbey’s understated, almost debonair, baritone with outstanding interwoven percussion from Meredith and Powles.

Things closed down with 1982’s “An Interlude” a track which recalls the nascent band’s big riff, big drums, jangly sound. The song shares a lot in common with The Feelies “Away”, but ultimately explores more psychedelic than punk territory. In his final solo of the night, Naylor engaged his wah-wah pedal and fired away. As the notes soared into the crowd, I noticed he had an unrestrained grin on his face, the kind of look that only rock and roll therapy can elicit. I was grinning too.

The Church – 7/1/25 – Bearsville Theater – Woodstock, NY

Set 1: Columbus, Electric Lash, Tear It All Away, The Hypnogogue, The Unguarded Moment, Block, Metropolis, It’s No Reason, Realm of Minor Angels, Reptile

Set 2: Almost With You, When You Were Mine, Woodstock (Joni Mitchell cover w/vocals by Ashley Naylor), Ripple, Destination, Western, Constant in Opal, Another Century, Already Yesterday, Numbers, Under the Milky Way, Tantalized

Encore: Sacred Echoes (Part Two), An Interlude