Gig Review: Andrew Fagan @ Globe Theatre, Palmerston North – 18/11/2025

There’s one truly magical thing about good music: its ability to bridge across the ages, pulling you into a consciousness of shared feelings and memories. Extolling this virtue, Andrew Fagan’s Passage Of Time Tour rolled into Palmerston North’s Globe Theatre on Tuesday, and what unfolded was a unique cross-genre experience that held the room spellbound. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill concert. Fagan delivered a performance that blended theatre, poetry, stand-up comedy, and a heartfelt musical voyage.

Sporting a vintage velvet pirate jacket, white hoodie, ripped jeans, and bare feet with toenails painted black, Fagan kicked off the night with a couple of classics from his 1994 solo album Blisters: Just Landed and Jerusalem. These tracks warmed up the crowd with familiar hooks, drawing smiles and applause from new and long-time fans alike. Fagan ripped through them with raw energy before embarking on an extended reading of what he described as his “bleak” poems.

Fagan drew the audience in with ultimatums about their attention spans, issuing a warning about a very serious comprehension test after the show. He further established the seriousness of his performance by ensuring there would be no interruptions when he paused for dramatic effect and explained that attendees should only applaud when he rang a small brass bell. These antics further broke down barriers and caused people to feel at ease despite the brevity of the poetical subject matter.

What followed was a recital of short poems, mainly taken from his 2018 poetry CD, It Was Always Going To Be Like This, each accompanied by atmospheric background noises and often prefaced with explanations about the circumstances of their writing. This gave Fagan further opportunity to exercise his wit and recount his endeavours both at home and abroad. The poems included A Band Of Rain, Sail The Other Way, The Beginning of Then, The Watch Keepers, and my personal favourite, The Ultimate Lie Down, written for a fellow labourer who died on the job in England. Other standouts were Supping From The Chalice of Insanity, The Prospect Of Similar Surroundings, It Was Always Going To Be Like This, Shouting The Clouds Down, Tide End Cottage (a tribute to pubs on London rivers), Late Afternoon Sun, Shift In The Wind (a poem Fagan tried to sell to Bob Dylan), Your Sheltered Place, Night Island (about Rapa Island), and Clean Your Teeth.

Described by Fagan himself as often being written from the lowest common denominator (LCD), his reading style was clear, precise and evocative. Despite sometimes channelling his inner pirate, the overall sentiment came across as sweet and somewhat innocent, perhaps a contradiction to the overall intent behind many of the beautifully written verses. Fagan often spoke of loss and his own struggles, making for a performance that was highly compelling and effective at raising awareness about mental health issues, a subject that Fagan discussed openly and unrepentantly. His alter ego, Philip Fagan, summoned earlier in the show, perhaps served as a way for Andrew to speak so frankly about his own personal experiences. This also provided him with the opportunity to provoke more laughter, often at his own expense, about being replaced by his brother because of mental stresses brought on by touring.

Far from being the LCD, Fagan’s poetry was a refreshing break from the often mundane and turbulent world we live in. At times he would pull you in with his rambling and reminiscing, which on the surface had an in-your-face edge. Once he had our attention, the consummate performer would blindside the audience with delicate words of exceptional poetry in a whimsical and elucidating vein.

Fagan’s love of music and prose is perhaps only challenged by his love of the sea. Around halfway through the first set, he launched into an in-depth speech about his sailing endeavours that included slideshows of his nail-biting rescue from the high seas while attempting to set the record for the smallest boat to circumnavigate the globe. His storytelling brought these adventures to life with vivid detail. Despite the dire circumstances, Fagan made light of the dangerous rescue by a container ship and the captain’s reaction when he was informed about where the 5.1 metre yacht Swirly World was heading (South America). Fagan pondered the possibility that his numerous bags of dried food stored within his swamped yacht had swollen up to look like bags of cocaine and would keep it afloat. Alas, this did not come to pass.

Intermission provided the orator with an opportunity to catch his breath and the audience to refill their wine glasses. Now wearing a large white crown, evoking the look of Max from Where The Wild Things Are, and another black cape, which he soon discarded to reveal a sparkling mirrored jacket, Fagan launched into the second half of his live show with Religion, a song from the 2021 album Admiral of the Narrow Seas. You could tell Fagan was enjoying himself, spritzing the air and his face with a spray bottle he explained contained only holy water and not vodka, jovially highlighting that he was only able to use holy water because he was completely pure.

Fagan also drew the audience’s attention to the signs adorning his instruments, clothing, and set, all of which were to be part of the exam at the end of the show that attendees had to pass to be allowed to leave. After talking about his heritage, Fagan recounted his experience of being abducted by aliens at Long Beach when he was 12, which apparently gave him special powers to read people’s minds. A deadpan explanation about his nose being broken by alien probes caused significant merriment. Messiah, with Fagan on his knees and a backing track booming, followed and ended with a declaration of his cult leadership; a cult not like the others and with a membership of just one.

Between The Day was then delicately performed, followed by the 70’s hit I Won’t Last A Day Without You, a poignant rendition the composer Randy Goodrum would have enjoyed, followed by Bluer Than Blue, a 1978 Michael Johnson classic, all interspersed with jokes and explanations about the history behind these lovely songs. Announcing that he also likes the raucous stuff, Fagan grabbed a guitar, gingerly placed the strap over his large crown, and followed up by belting out Empty, a song he wrote and recorded in the mid-90’s with his short-lived UK band Lig.

The show consisted of a kind of deconstruction and reconstruction, whereby Fagan would pull apart the where, why, and sometimes how of the next piece to be performed. His lo-fi guitar sound, balanced by the warm depth of his vocals, enhanced the approachability of his music, providing his show with a deeply relatable nuance.

Later joined by Kurt Shanks (Stellar*, Delete Delete) on acoustic guitar, the night hit full sail. The Snowman, He’s A Loser, One Black Friday, I Still Want You and the immortal Forever Tuesday Morning turned the Globe into a sing-along cathedral, the Mockers anthem still igniting the room four decades on. That song could easily define Fagan’s career, but he’s far more than a one-hit wonder. In their heyday the Mockers opened for musical giants, released five albums, but never landed the big follow-up record deal they deserved, a sore point Fagan often lamented, with tongue in cheek, during the show. Yet his prolific solo path, albums, books and touring proves he’s never stopped charting his own course. When Fagan and Shanks delivered those final songs, the crowd was right there with them, singing along to every word.

The show closed with Passage Of Time, the title track from Fagan’s latest release, which left the crowd wanting more and calling out for an encore, but the event was over. The lyrically rich show was easy on the ears, making for a much more intimate occasion and a refreshing change from the high-volume some artists employ to cover for technical mistakes. Not only was this concert a way for Fagan to showcase some of his prolific work, but it also provided him with the opportunity to give kudos to his creative inspiration, demonstrating a genuine appreciation for the music that shaped his career.

Andrew Fagan’s Passage Of Time Tour is a unique and compelling experience and one not to be missed. If you get a chance to catch this show, do yourself a favour and get along to a venue near you. You’ll be treated to an evening of entertainment that’s as unpredictable as it is unforgettable, delivered by one of the most enduring and eccentric musical treasures in New Zealand.

Photos with thanks to Derek Rossiter Photography.
Photo Gallery: 19/11/2025 @ Paisley Stage, Napier