Sir Dave Dobbyn: Selected Songs
by Ian Knott | November 10, 2025 2:51 pm
Sir Dave Dobbyn – Selected Songs
At the Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium, 9 November 2025
Reviewed by Ian Knott.
Photo credit: George Thomson / Live Nation Aotearoa – @Georgetommo / @livenationaotearoa
When it comes to New Zealand music legends, few come bigger than the somewhat ironically diminutive Sir Dave Dobbyn. With a career spanning six decades, Sir Dave has provided the soundtrack to the life of virtually every Kiwi over 40. Ask any teenager who Dave Dobbyn is and you’ll likely be met with shrugged shoulders, as my 17-year-old son proved, but play them Slice of Heaven and chances are they’ll recognise it instantly. That’s how deep Sir Dave’s music has been permanently sewn into the very fabric of Aotearoa itself.
The 68-year-old’s latest tour is called Selected Songs, which stopped off at the Christchurch Town Hall last evening to play to an almost capacity, yet still fairly intimate crowd. Accompanied by a seven-piece band of extremely tight musicians (including son Eli Dobbyn), Selected Songs is no box-ticking farewell tour for Sir Dave, but more of a celebration of his personal favourites, cherry-picked from an extensive discography.
Opening the night was Kiwi alternative/Indie singer and songwriter Anthonie Tonnon with a hint of his upcoming new album. Painting himself as a DJ from the future, yet dressed like a car salesman from 1986, Tonnon’s looping synths and haunting vocals weren’t to everyone’s taste. A look around some audience faces during his 30-minute set provided a mix of appreciation and downright bewilderment. There is no doubt Tonnon has a wonderful voice – almost Marlon Williams-esque when he uses it, so it’s a shame that he didn’t use it much on the night. His set was reminiscent of a performance poet rather than singer/songwriter. He was an odd choice of opening act, and perhaps Tonnon’s social and political awareness resonated with Sir Dave, but it did nothing to get the crowd into a fervour for the main act.
As Sir Dave Dobbyn took the stage, he was showing signs of both age and a relatively recent Parkinson’s diagnosis. His movements were slow and deliberate, and getting a guitar strap over his head was a chore in itself. But then he opened his mouth and sang.
You know the saying “My life flashed before my eyes”? When Sir Dave’s legendary voice filled the auditorium, it was like a subliminal flipbook of scenes from every great night you’ve had in a bar, every summer road-trip, every episode of Ready to Roll you watched, every iconic Kiwi moment from the last 50 years. When Sir Dave sings, time stops, you are home, and everything is going to be okay.
From the very first note, to the final lyrics of three encore tracks – Sir Dave’s vocals were no different to what they have ever been. Every word of every song able to be heard with perfect clarity, and there was no hesitation to belt out the high notes of some of his earlier hits. I was expecting talented back-up vocalist and guitarist Victoria Girling-Butcher to step in and help Sir Dave meet those high notes – but no, she knew, and even stepped back from the mic at those key moments.
The set was split into two distinct parts, with an hour of lesser-known tracks (in terms of chart success), but still very much known to any true fan. Kingdom Come and Just Add Water from 2000’s album Hometown, Don’t Hold Your Breath and Belltower from1993’s excellent Lament For the Numb, Naked Flame from 1994’s Twist, Forgiveness and Pour the Wine from 2005’s Available Light – there were three or four more, each an incredible song in its own right.
Then came the absolute bangers. The Kiwi anthems. The songs you didn’t realise you know all the words to.
In the Lap of the Gods, Maybe the Rain, Language, You Oughta be in Love, and Welcome Home. These were followed by an obligatory encore of three extras – Beside You (a heartfelt tribute to Sir Dave’s wife and sister), and then Slice of Heaven (interestingly the only song played off his incredible album Loyal).
Then, fittingly we went back in time to 1976 and Sir Dave wound up the evening with Th’ Dudes’ Be Mine Tonight, the only visit to his earlier roots. And the audience was his, from the moment he walked on stage.
Yes, Sir Dave could have easily played for another two hours and it would have been a steady stream of hits. But as the tour name suggests – these were ‘selected songs’, ones that obviously bring Sir Dave a great amount of joy. Joy that was written all over his face as he finally left the stage, and every audience member as they left the venue.
Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/sir-dave-dobbyn-selected-songs/