Dave Dobbyn – The Civic, 26 July 2026: Review & Photo Gallery

26th July 2026

There are artists whose music you enjoy, and then there are artists whose songs quietly become part of the landscape around you. As someone who immigrated to New Zealand, Dave Dobbyn was never a name that featured in my childhood soundtrack. I first heard his music through Kiwi friends, road trips, and eventually The Great New Zealand Songbook, where his work sits comfortably alongside names like Neil Finn and Bic Runga. Then came this year’s FIFA World Cup, when Slice Of Heaven echoed around stadiums every time the All Whites found the back of the net. Suddenly, what had once felt uniquely Kiwi became something that even the rest of the world was hearing.

Walking into The Civic on Saturday night for Sir Dave Dobbyn’s Selected Songs (Encore), it was obvious this wasn’t simply another concert. It felt like a reunion. Families, lifelong fans, younger listeners discovering the catalogue through parents, and curious newcomers all filtered into one of Auckland’s most beautiful theatres. By the end of the night, it was clear why Sir Dave Dobbyn has remained one of New Zealand’s defining musical voices for more than four decades.

Fables

If there was one word to describe Fables, it would be restraint. Not because the band lacked energy, but because they understood that sometimes the quietest moments demand the most attention. Performing songs for their album Change Is A Slow Moving Beast.

Opening with delicate finger-picked acoustic guitar against shimmering electric textures, the room settled almost instantly. Lead singer Jessica Bailey immediately broke the ice with, “You may have noticed that I’m not Dave Dobbyn… I’m Jess, and we are Fables” earning warm laughter before guiding the audience into songs that felt intimate enough for a lounge room despite being performed in one of Auckland’s grandest venues.

The band’s folk arrangements floated beautifully through the theatre. Gentle falsettos echoed over intertwining guitar lines while bass and electric guitars quietly filled out the sound without ever overwhelming the acoustic heart of the music. It was understated and wonderfully confident.

There were moments that felt almost painfully human. Before Someone I Know, Jessica shared a line from someone close to her.

“I feel like a goldfish on a kitchen table… and now I’m feeling like I’ve been thrown into a pond.”

It’s one of those strange little metaphors that somehow says everything.

Even the unavoidable realities of live performance became part of the charm. A few guitar tuning hiccups appeared throughout the set, yet Jessica filled the pauses with relaxed conversation that made the audience feel like willing participants rather than impatient observers.

Introducing Sensitive, she deadpanned, “This is for anyone who saw their ex-husband’s dead dad on the road. This is for you.”

The audience laughed, slightly unsure whether they should, before quietly sinking back into another beautifully melancholic performance.

Then came Back Up Plan, the first genuinely uplifting moment of the evening. Warm yellow lights washed across the stage as the melodies brightened and the room gently lifted with them.

Who’s Gonna Call Me Now proved the emotional high point. The bridge erupted unexpectedly, reminding me of a young Taylor Swift or Kacey Musgraves during their early country years. The vocal delivery carried the same heartfelt urgency, while the layered guitars wrapped around the melody with remarkable elegance.

For an opening act, commanding silence can sometimes be harder than earning applause. Fables managed both.

Sir Dave Dobbyn

The curtain slowly lifted to reveal Dave Dobbyn standing beneath misty lighting, dressed entirely in black while the artwork from Twist glowed behind him. Soft white beams stretched into the audience, creating an almost heavenly atmosphere before a single note had been played.

The opening pairing of Palace and Belltower was greeted with something unusual. Almost no applause.

Not because the audience wasn’t enjoying themselves, but because everyone seemed completely absorbed.

From there the evening unfolded like chapters from a musical autobiography. Kingdom Come, born from wandering the streets of Grey Lynn, carried the gentle feeling of watching the world drift past a window. Forgiveness arrived with almost hymn-like harmonies, sounding closer to a church choir than a rock concert.

Despite his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2022, Dobbyn looked remarkably comfortable on stage. His voice remains astonishingly strong, particularly during those soaring falsetto passages that still arrive with surprising ease. More importantly, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

His personality quietly stitched the evening together.

At one point he asked the audience, “Did you like my choreography?”

Later he joked, “There will be fireworks soon… and even a loud BANG!”

The exaggerated delivery genuinely caught me off guard.

That’s the thing about Dave Dobbyn. He’s one of New Zealand’s biggest musical figures, yet he somehow carries himself like the friendly neighbour who lends you an old food processor over the fence.

Musically, the band was exceptional.

With several guitarists, keyboards, bass, percussion and the brilliant Jay Lee on saxophone, the arrangements could easily have become cluttered. Instead, everything sat perfectly in the mix. Every instrument had room to breathe without ever competing against the vocals.

The only genuine disappointment came from the lighting.

The strobe effects during parts of the performance weren’t simply bright. They were blinding, and oddly, they rarely felt synchronised with the music. During Naked Flame, I found myself thinking less about the lights and more about the lyric itself. I genuinely felt like I was staring at a naked flame. This may be due to the seats at the upper stand of the Civic as I’ve discussed with nearby patrons. So a tip for next time; bring sunglasses.

Thankfully, moments like Language quickly swept that frustration aside as the audience clapped perfectly in time, filling The Civic with cheers and whistles.

Then came You Oughta Be In Love.

Following Dobbyn’s soaring falsetto, J.Y Lee delivered a saxophone solo that brought one of the night’s biggest reactions. It wasn’t flashy for the sake of it. It simply elevated an already beloved song into something even more joyous.

The final stretch felt inevitable in the best possible way.

By the time Slice Of Heaven arrived, almost everyone was on their feet before the chorus had even begun. Thousands of voices filled the theatre with that unmistakable “Da da da ba du da da ba du,” creating one of those moments where performer and audience almost disappear into one another.

After the band left the stage, the applause simply refused to stop. Nearly two minutes of uninterrupted clapping eventually drew them back for an encore featuring Th’ Dudes classic Be Mine Tonight, a spirited rendition of War (What Is It Good For?), and finally Welcome Home.

It was impossible not to feel something during those closing moments.

Whether you’ve lived in New Zealand your whole life or only recently made it home, Welcome Home has a remarkable ability to dissolve differences. It becomes everyone’s song.

Leaving The Civic, I found myself thinking less about Parkinson’s, anniversaries or career milestones. Instead, I kept returning to something much simpler.

Great songs eventually stop belonging to the people who wrote them.

On Saturday night, Dave Dobbyn proved that once again. His music has become woven into New Zealand’s collective memory, carried by generations who continue singing every word back to him. Judging by the standing ovation that closed the evening, those songs are still finding new voices to call home.

Azrie Azizi

Setlist
Palace
Belltower
Kingdom Come
Forgiveness
It Dawned On Me
Don’t Hold Your Breath
Naked Flame
Lap Of The Gods
Waiting For A Voice
Blindman’s Bend
Howling At The Moon
Just Add Water
Maybe The Rain
Pour The Wine
Language
You Oughta Be In Love
Beside You
Slice Of Heaven