Alfie Boe is renown in theatre internationally for his legendary portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. So, when I headed to the Melbourne concert of his 2026 Facing Myself Tour, I actually expected an abundance of musical theatre tunes. I was delighted to be wrong.
Taking to the Melbourne stage at the Palais Theatre, Alfie Boe was delightful and cheeky from the get-go. Accompanied by a five-piece band consisting of Murray Gould (MD Guitars), Dan Mckinna (Bass), Craig Connett (Drums), Randall Breneman (Guitars), and Steve Holness (Keyboards), Boe surprised everyone, beginning with three Italian songs; ‘Chitarra Marechiare’, the popular ‘Mambo Italiano’ and ‘Nel blu, dipinto di blu’, originally by Domenico Modugno. These songs already had Melbourne patrons happily clapping their hands and dancing in their seats and that was only the beginning.
Transitioning with ease, the music changed to the skiffle genre (a blending of folk, blues and jazz), which included Lonnie Donegan’s ‘Don’t You Rock Me Daddy-O’, Roger Miller’s ‘King of the Road’ which had patrons singing along, and Ned Miller’s ‘From a Jack to a King’. The latter being a special love song for his parents which gained a few chuckles.
For those who were patiently waiting of the musical theatre tunes, Alfie Boe delivered with a revamped version of Glen Hansard’s ‘Falling Slowly’ from Once, opposite Australia’s Amy Manford, before she gifted us with a cover of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ from Les Misérables. Keeping with the Les Misérables theme, Boe sung his signature theatre song, ‘Bring Him Home’ which was so captivating, you could hear a pin drop in between lyrics, only after he trolled the audience with a snippet of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, and then preceded to tell a funny story of how his fellow Les Misérables cast member Michael Ball was his secret Santa once and gifted Ball six online singing lessons as his present, which was hilarious!
For Lion King fans, Lebo M’s ‘He Lives in You’ was performed, for Hamilton fans ‘You’ll Be Back’ was great. This was accompanied by a lovely story about how Lin-Manuel Miranda and he would play darts in full costume before performances on Broadway because their theatres were connected.
It wasn’t all showtunes though. Boe affectionately performed a cover of ‘Suspicious Minds’ made famous by Elvis Presley, openly sharing how much he admired the singer. For good measure, Alfie Boe performed an original song ‘White Lily Fields’ from his latest album ‘Face Myself’. He also did a great cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’, a medley of songs from Franki Valli & the Four Seasons which included ‘Grease’, ‘Oh What a Nght!’, ‘Working My Way Back to You’, ‘Beggin’’ and the Frankie Valli solo hit ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’.
However, my favourite cover of the evening was ‘Come What May’ opposite Amy Manford, famed from Moulin Rouge. This stunning duet was the best thing I never knew I needed that evening. Plus, their voices sounded incredible together. To conclude the concert, Boe performed a Queen medley with ‘A Kind of Magic’, ‘Radio Ga Ga’, ‘We Will Rock You’, ‘We Are the Champions’.
Alfie Boe can sing anything. A musical chameleon with funny stories to tell, his Facing Myself Tour was a genuinely delightful concert, regardless of whether you were a theatre person or not. This man could have been a pop star, country music star, or a rock stage. But one thing’s for certain, Alfie Boe was born to be on the stage, and he looked so happy making music, playing guitar and being in his element.
Alfie Boe performed in Melbourne at the Palais Theatre as part of his 2026 Facing Myself Tour on Saturday the 6th of June.
For more information on other cities and dates for the tour, visit:
https://www.livenation.com.au/alfie-boe-tickets-adp341694
https://alfie-boe.com
https://www.instagram.com/mralfieboe
Photography by Grant Alexander.
