On Friday 10th October, I had another milestone music experience, thanks to Robert Forster and his Swedish Band.
Optimistically, I thought it was a sound idea to aim to "leave early" from work in Gloucester, then hop onto the M5, across the Severn Bridge and along to Cardiff. From there, park up, grab bite to eat, walk to the venue and settle down for a good show.
Doors opened at 7.00pm, so it should be no sweat, right?
What a prat. At 5.15pm, I found myself running not walking the 10 minutes to where my car was parked, then a kerfuffle to get out of Gloucester centre and onto the motorway, then - and I always forget this - joining the bottlenecked, slow moving traffic on the M4 before routes diverge to Newport and Cardiff. It was already 7.00pm when I finally reached the city centre.
There was no parking at the venue and, ignorant of residents' parking restrictions, I'd asked Parkopedia for help. No problem, it told me, the University has plenty of pay and display parking within 10 minutes' walk of the venue.
Try telling my satnav that. After being caught in Groundhog Day-style comedy of following a loop around half a dozen times, each time the automated voice assuring me that I was at my destination, all I could see under the orange lights were residential streets with permit parking until 10.00pm. Feck!
I gave up and just followed my nose until I found an NCP car park, deposited my car and then begrudgingly relied on satnav again to navigate my way to the venue. An unfamiliar city, in the dark, no clue where i had parked in relation to where I was going, possibly the worst inbuilt sense of direction known to humankind - what else was I going to do?
Before you go looking for the world's tiniest violin to play, I was not stressed at this point. Admittedly, I'd turned the air blue at several points in the car - thankfully, there were no passengers with me on this trek - but by the time I was hotfooting it across town, I was had leaned into the ridiculousness of the situation and with a zen-like calm, was looking forward to getting to the venue and seeing the gig.
And from there, it was all on the up. Firstly, The Gate Arts Centre in Cardiff is a beautiful venue, outside and in. When I finally arrived at 7.45pm, there was enough time to buy a (soft) drink from the bar, head up the stairs and then descend into the theatre.
Astonishingly, the show wasn't sold out, so I could have picked one of the stall seats, to get really close. However, I chose the bottom row of the balcony benches, ever so slightly elevated above the seats before me and affording a decent view of the stage ahead.
My concerns about missing the support act were alleviated by the news that there wasn't one. Robert Forster came on stage with his Swedish Band - Peter Morén, Jonas Thorell and Magnus Olsson - around 8.00pm and, for the next 100-odd minutes, the place was theirs.
The band eased into the title track of current album Strawberries, all but two of the songs getting a live airing over the course of the evening. Robert noted that he'd had such a good time recording the album with the band that he was eager to tour with them, and it shows. Both the current songs and the classics sound fantastic, helped in no small part by the wonderfully warm acoustics of the location.
There are a few surprising omissions: nothing from The Evangelist (2008) or Oceans Apart (2005), but The Go-Betweens and solo catalogue is so full of choice tunes that there were no complaints from me or the audience. Too Much Of One Thing, Draining The Pool For You and of course Spring Rain got a huge response. I was also overjoyed to hear German Farmhouse, Love Is A Sign and Was There Anything I Could Do? - the latter a tribute to the much-missed Grant McLennan - as well as the relatively recent I Love Myself (And I Always Have) and One Bird In The Sky.
The songs on Strawberries are as good as anything that Robert has written and recorded and the live renditions did them all justice. The more introspective Breakfast On The Train and Foolish I Know were particular highlights for me.
After a brief exit, Robert returned to the stage to perform Is This What You Call Change from his debut solo album, Danger In The Past. As the song progressed, Robert was gradually joined by the other members of his Swedish Band, bringing the song to a full-throated conclusion.
From there, we were then treated to Tender Years from 2023's The Candle And The Flame and then a brace of classics to close from The Go-Betweens. People Say, followed by Surfing Magazines, was a tribute to the first and second eras of a band that I came to late, never saw live on stage (and now never will).
And yet, at 68, playing songs that he wrote age 22, 48 and in the last 12 months, Robert demonstrated beyond any shadow of a doubt that the fire of his youth burns just as brightly today.
Robert stepped off the stage to go over to a pair of women who had been dancing at the side, thank and shake their hands, before he and the band departed for the final time. Yet, it the time it took me to go up the stairs and descend into the bar, there he was at the merch stand, signing records and books and making conversation with his fans.
I reluctantly had to keep going - I had a journey home as long as the entirety of Robert Forster and his Swedish Band's entire set, and work the next day - but the memory of that wonderful night still lingers.
And I plan on making a return visit to The Gate one day, only I'll book at least half a day off work before and after the gig next time!
The accompanying Dubhed selection recreates the setlist. Was There Anything I Could Do? was written and perfomed by Grant McLennan and is the only song here not featuring Robert on lead vocals. I considered looking for a subsequent solo live version to include, but it feels right just the way it is.
1) Strawberries (Album Version): Robert Forster ft. Karin Bäumler (2025)
2) I Love Myself (And I Always Have): Robert Forster (2015)
3) Always: Robert Forster (2023)
4) Clouds (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (1988)
5) Breakfast On The Train: Robert Forster (2025)
6) Too Much Of One Thing (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (2003)
7) All Of The Time: Robert Forster (2025)
8) Tell It Back To Me: Robert Forster (2025)
9) Draining The Pool For You (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (1984)
10) German Farmhouse (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (2000)
11) Foolish I Know: Robert Forster (2025)
12) Love Is A Sign (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (1988)
13) Good To Cry: Robert Forster (2025)
14) Was There Anything I Could Do? (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (1988)
15) One Bird In The Sky (Album Version): Robert Forster (2019)
16) Spring Rain (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (1986)
17) Learn To Burn: Robert Forster (2015)
18) Is This What You Call Change: Robert Forster (1990)
19) Tender Years: Robert Forster (2023)
20) People Say (Single Version): The Go-Betweens (1979)
21) Surfing Magazines (Album Version): The Go-Betweens (2000)
1979: People Say EP: 20
1984: Spring Hill Fair: 9
1986: Liberty Belle And The Black Diamond Express: 16
1988: 16 Lovers Lane: 4, 12, 14
1990: Danger In The Past: 18
2000: The Friends Of Rachel Worth: 10, 21
2003: Bright Yellow Bright Orange: 6
2015: Songs To Play: 2, 17
2019: Inferno: 15
2023: The Candle And The Flame: 3, 19
2025: Strawberries: 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13
I've also reactivated the following previous Dubhed selections, to make this a full-on Forster festival. Fill your boots!
Let's Burn This Land: The Go-Betweens (August 1990)
Second Intermission: Robert Forster & Grant McLennan solo (Sep 2021)
Dusty In Here: The Go-Betweens (October 2021)
Sixty Six: Robert Forster (June 2023)
As a closing bit of trivia, and something I was completely oblivious to on the night, only discovering when I was creating this post. Swedish Band member (and album producer) Peter Morén is none other than the lead singer of Peter Bjorn And John, and whose 2006 classic single Young Folks has been on regular rotation at Casa K recently.
Sounds like it was worth the effort
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