Live Review: Billy Ocean One World Tour in Perth Australia 2025
17th of September 2025, Riverside Side Theatre, Western Australia
Review by Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
Suddenly… the walls begin to melt beneath the honeyed voice, flowing through the suave and swagger of the preacher of love as he delivers his velvet sermon. His soul seeps through our veins at the intro, elevating our spirit to cloud 9 in the chorus, transporting us to a place and time when the world was simply awesome. The confession reminded us of the kind of transformative love that came once in our lifetime, and as the saying goes, love changes everything. The age of innocence has once again resurrected from our subconscious, and for many, they’re reliving the poignancy of yesteryears, or through regret on the one that got away. As for the lucky few in this theatre, they are still holding the same hands, tied with a lifetime of happiness while riding on the live confession of Billy Ocean.
Tonight’s passage transcends mere performance; it’s a personal confession forged from a lifetime of lived experience.
After all, Billly Ocean is a Grammy Award winner with the Best R&B voice. With dreads that appeared more like a water slide (and the writer meant it in the best possible way), the Englishman has compiled a sea of love stories that are still propagating across 6 continents, from the karaoke bars of Melaka to the dancefloors of New York City. Billy was one of the favourite sons of the ’83-’86 Solid Gold Countdown. This writer still hears the voice of the host Marlynn McCoo introducing the young, dashing singer on stage. So seeing Billy live even for the second time was a surreal moment of nostalgia, poignancy, happiness, and joy rolled into one. When it rains, it pours.
At 8:50, the musicians took their positions on the stage of Perth Riverside Theatre. It was a full set: a sax/flute player, lead guitarist, riff, bass, percussionist, keys, and three backup vocalists. There were nine performers in total – plus Billy, who stood out like a Southern preacher of Jesus Christ in an cream all white suit and punctuated with a yellow tie. This is a musician’s concert.
The night sparked with the album track title One World, a 2020 piece about peace, love, and unity, a call across cultures to come together. It’s a fitting reminder in a time when the world is grappling with division and uncertainty across the Western world. For the old schoolers, it was a pleasant surprise, as we sensed the maturity of the styles and the introspection of the contemporary Billy Ocean rather than the poppy hooks about love and obsession of the 70s and 80s. But It wasn’t long before we are back in time to our favourite decades.
The clock is reset, sending everyone back in time to when it all started with Love Really Hurts Without You from the 1976 self-titled album by Billy Ocean. And the rest, as they say, is history; the classic Billy Ocean is back. The vibe of the night lit like the atmosphere of dance floor at 10pm of a wedding reception. The breakout seminal hit personified the vibe of the night. Billy added more flair to his showmanship, one that is fun and full of body swaggering; hip gyrations, tip-toeing, knees wiggling while dragging his feet. The crowd loved the cheeky flex, as every move sparked a roar of approval.
It wasn’t long before the night went into overdrive. We heard the car engine ignite. “Hey, you, get into my car,” he ordered. “Who me?” Get into my car, we shall. “Sing it”. As he walked along the stage, a few punters took the chance and gave him a high five, and he obliged like a gentleman. Then came the solo sax that went for a minute or so. It was a masterpiece performance. It was a chorus on its own. The fans self-appointed themselves as the backup singers in their minds, without overpowering the three on stage. Billy sang with ferocity, as if begging his fans to enter his 2500-seat car, with a facial countenance that matched his fluid movement, while wiggling his knees in and out, with a dash of sexiness, and at times, thrusting his hips.
“I was sexy 40 years ago, I’m still sexy now,” said the 75 year old. The crowd agreed hands down.
By now, the artist is hypnotised in his own world but still in control. In fact, we were all hypnotised, including a man who was dancing along the aisle like a maniacal zombie as he made his way to the front. Billy obliged, smiled, and gave him a fist pump. Good on him, but he had to go according to the security. The pro-underdog crowd disapproved.
The night has almost peaked before we made a stop for some fuel, but the passengers remained in his car as we were asked about The Colour of Love. For 10 minutes, he went on about the colour of love as a metaphor. The poetry was beautiful, with imagery that was described in a way that came straight from the heart of Billy Ocean. It was a chocolate caramel melting moment, as we were glued onto our seats.
Growing up in a musically rich Caribbean household, Bily was surrounded by calypso, reggae and soul, so it was fitting that he did a cover of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ in No Woman No Cry. There was so much swagger and reggae on stage that we felt we were in Kingston Town.
And no doubt that if he had to do all over again, he wouldn’t change a thing, as there’s certainly beauty up from above, whether it’s spiritual or lust. The slow melody with soft piano sparked the romance as Billy welcomed us to the best feeling in the world – unrequited love. The gentle synths and the percussion were slightly touched. One of the greatest ballads of all time had emerged in Suddenly. For four minutes, we were awakened by the true connection with ourselves, thanks to the warmth in Billy’s voice that oozed with palpable sincerity, as we felt the personal expression of his deepest thoughts.
The night was almost over, but not before one of the greatest hits of our time.
“I want to take you to the Caribbean – let’s go”
And with the sound of the sax intro accompanied by the pulsating bassline and drums , we landed somewhere in (let’s say) Jamaica. The front of the stage was dotted with fans as one by one, Billy gave high-fives. Caribbean Queen is Billy Ocean’s Grammy-winning smash hit from 1984, and the song that catapulted him into global stardom. The funkiness took its natural course as the number 1 song became the closing song for the night. The charismatic glare in Billy’s face matched the tone of the voice, one that was full of glee.
After 100 minutes, the minister of sound’s said his final prayer for the night.
It is a fact – rather than this writer’s opinion- that all of Billy’s performance was a confession. And that’s why this is possibly the show of the year.
Billy Ocean’s One World Tour continues across Australia. Tickets are available from Billy Ocean | The Official Website
Perth Setlist
One World – One World (2020)
Love Really Hurts Without You – Billy Ocean (1976)
Nights (Feel Like Getting Down) – Nights (1981)
Stay the Night – Tear Down These Walls (1988)
Red Light Spells Danger – City Limit (1978)
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car – Tear Down These Walls (1988)
The Colour of Love – Tear Down These Walls (1988)
No Woman, No Cry (Bob Marley cover) – originally released in 1974
Mystery – Love Zone (1986)
Suddenly – Suddenly (1984)
Loverboy – Suddenly (1984)
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going – Love Zone (1986)
Daylight – One World (2020)
Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run) – Suddenly (1984)
Out in the Real World (The O’Jays cover) – originally released in 1975
Support Act – Jason Ayres
Jason Ayres, the opening act for Billy Ocean’s Australian leg is more than a stage warmer. The Perth artist grabbed the audience’s attention for a full 30 minutes. 2500 pairs of feet were tapping and heads were bopping to his catchy acoustics. Armed with a guitar decorated like the centrepiece at a family Christmas lunch, the artist propelled the crowd towards his world of alternative country, with jaw-dropping riffs from Troubles of my Own to Coming Back To You. There was a touch of the young Chris Isaac, personified by a cover of Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing. It wouldn’t be long before Jason becomes the headliner of his own major tour.
Sheldon Ang caught up with his friend Jason Ayres after the show for a quick chat.
Sheldon: Tell us about yourself and your music.
Jason: I’m a touring singer/songwriter delivering alternative country, Americana and a lot of guitar riffs, packaged up alongside stories and insights from life on the road and beyond.
Sheldon: It must be great to perform in your home town Perth?
Jason: It’s a very unique and amazing experience to fly home and perform on a stage that I’ve seen so many of my favourite artists play on. And despite the massive room and audience, they made it feel cosy and warm and welcoming. Definitely felt like a homecoming.
Sheldon. You spoke about the surrealness of touring with Billy Ocean. Tell us about it, how it is like, why you were chosen, and is Billy as cool with full of swag and charm in person as he is on stage?
Jason: Billy Ocean was a household name and a mega star when I was growing up, and I never dreamed I’d ever cross paths with him. Let alone spend weeks on the road sharing a stage and an audience night after night. It’s been a humbling and amazing experience to be welcomed in to the touring team and be able to deliver my songs to his audiences Australia wide.
I can say with absolute certainty, Billy is every bit as cool, kind and full of charm both on and off the stage night after night.
Sheldon Ang Media would like to thank Menard PR, Lennard Promotion, Mellen Event, TEG Live and Billy Ocean for the media accreditation
About the writer/photographer: The founder of Perth-based Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) has been accredited to more than 200 of the hottest acts including Taylor Swift (ERAS Tour in Sydney), Coldplay (Perth), Backstreet Boys, KISS, Iron Maiden, RHCP, P!NK etc with reviews shared by the likes of Belinda Carlisle, Roxette, Tina Arena, UB40, Delta Goodrem, Leo Sayer and Tina Arena on social media. He has interviewed rockers Suzi Quatro, Ace Frehley (KISS), John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS) plus over 70 artists. He’s also a contributor on Triple M Radio as a music journalist.
