Live Review: Go West with Debbie Gibson (Plus Exclusive Photoshoot)
By Sheldon Ang
Photography by Sheldon Ang Photography
This photojournalist had the rare opportunity to sit in on the soundcheck for both Debbie Gibson and Go West, then photograph them for some set shots before the show. And as the doors opened and the crowd filtered in, the energy inside the Astor began to shift from a hectic, present-day rehearsal to full‑blown nostalgia.
The rain held off for the night, only for the nostalgic storm to pour from the roof of the Astor Theatre Perth twice, all for the price of one.
For most fans, this tour felt less like “Go West with special guest Debbie Gibson” and more like a shared bill between Go West and Debbie Gibson. And that was hardly surprising; Debbie was a global superstar who broke records and helped define a generation of pop. Her set ran for an hour, and fans had to remind themselves there was still another show to come in Go West. Her sold-out VIP meet-and-greet only reinforced the point, with 50 fans queuing from the floor.
For our under-50 readers, Debbie Gibson was the Britney Spears of the late ’80s in terms of fame, youth and pop-cultural wattage, except this former teen idol wrote, produced and performed her own material. At 17, “Foolish Beat” made her the youngest artist to write, produce and perform a Billboard No. 1 single, an achievement recognised by Guinness World Records. She has since sold more than 16 million albums worldwide.
As for Go West, they were global phenomena in their own right, with more than 20 million records sold. Peter Cox and Richard Drummie had returned to Perth two years earlier with Nik Kershaw for a show that was close to sold out, so Cox’s return to the stage was no surprise. Nor was the attention around Debbie Gibson, given she had not toured Australia since her heyday. This time, Cox performed without Drummie, who was absent due to health issues.
So…
Debbie Gibson
The night sparked to life with three male dancers gracing the stage, opening Debbie Gibson’s set with “Danced 4U” from her 2021 comeback album, The Body Remembers. It was a fusion of modern pop and ’80s shimmer, an upbeat, club-ready track with a clear nod to the synthwave and retro-pop glow of her original era. Through the synchronicity of Debbie and the three dancers, the playful performance recalled the choreography of the “Electric Youth” video: a teenager buzzing with confidence. The movement, the gestures, and her interaction with the crowd all resonated with the persona we often see on her socials: friendly, open, everyone’s best friend. Her eliciting smile was as wide as the models in the old “Are your Macleans showing?” ads, while her signature bright resonance and youthful timbre, sitting in the mid-to-high range, echoed across the Astor Theatre.
And just like that, we are in the sparkly world of Debbie Gibson.
But there was a caveat tonight.
Debbie asked the audience to join in: “I’ve been having migraines for the last few days, and I’ve reached the point where it has affected my voice. I do not lip-sync. I do have backing tracks, but I’m not going to use those… so I need your help. Sing with me.”
And the crowd showed its true colours, appreciating the fair go, the honest take. “I’m a performer, and we give our best.”
It wasn’t long before the first major hit was unleashed with No More Rhyme, then the record-breaking “Foolish Beat”, which remains one of the great ballads of the broken heart. Nearly four decades later, the hurt and self-blame could still be felt in the voice: the mistake, the bitter taste of lifelong regret, the reminder that we do not always know what we have until it is gone. It was as if Debbie Gibson was revisiting teenage heartbreak from behind the keyboard. She spoke and half-sang through the confessional emotion, and it was palpably sincere. We felt it. We miss ’80s ballads: the poignant touch, the distant memory through an ’80s kaleidoscope. The confessional lyrics were transformed into life through a performance of quiet, aching sincerity.
And just like that, we are back to our teenage years of heartbreaks, with old wounds revisited, but with a smile on our faces.
It was a hat trick of ballads, with a happier storyline arriving in the moment many had waited more than three decades to witness: Debbie Gibson performing “Lost In Your Eyes”. It was the ballad of our teenage years and, for some, remains the ballad of our lives. She remained on the piano, the opening keystrokes tingling through the room and evoking bittersweet memories from the last century. It was Rage TV countdown all over again: wintry blues, Saturday morning, lying in bed as the song filled the house.
The next track stirred the room awake as Debbie waded through the crowd for her latest song, “Legendary”. Camera phones appeared as the intensity brewed. This was a different track altogether, driven by end-to-end riffs and guitar licks in the background, before closing with a soaring lead-guitar solo that carried a touch of Slash in the extended version of “November Rain”. The fans loved the new sounds of this track.
We also heard “Only In My Dreams” from the Electric Youth era, this time in a stripped-down version, with Gibson once again at the keyboard. The saxophone that followed was hypnotic. “You won’t see this version again,” she said.
By now, fans were on their feet again for “Shake Your Love”, dancing to the soundtrack of childhood dreams. It is another track Debbie produced at 16, an extraordinarily rare achievement at the time: a teenage girl writing and producing her own hit. With its bright synths and bouncy beat, the song still carries that roller-rink energy almost 40 years later.
And finally, “Electric Youth”, the classic roller-skater track of the ’80s. Frankly, even after nearly 40 years, the thematic energy still fits Debbie Gibson because of the vitality and energy she continues to possess. Her synchronicity with the three dancers looked sharp and assured like the video itself. It felt like an extended version of the studio recording, or at least it carried that extra live spark.
The set culminated in a medley of club bangers, a perfect relay that began with “Right Back to Where We Started From”, passed the baton to Kylie’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”, moved into something more contemporary, and ended with “Xanadu” and “Last Dance”.
After waiting 37 years for Debbie Gibson, a full two-hour show would be more than welcome next time. Give us Out of the Blue, “Sure”, “We Could Be Together”, and perhaps, why not, an Out of the Blue and Electric Youth album tour back to back. On this evidence, Perth would turn up for it.
And best part of all, the fans would be treated with another 90 minutes of nostalgia.
Go West
So we had the queen of wishful thinking. But for the less sappy hearts in the room, Go West was the main act, with the duo celebrating 40 years of music and memory.
The night commenced with “Don’t Look Down”.
Go West entered as Peter Cox and band, with Richard Drummie absent from this tour due to illness. Cox wasted no time settling the room into that familiar polished ’80s groove, moving through “Don’t Look Down”, “Black and Gold” and “Eye to Eye” with the assurance of someone who knows exactly how these songs land after all these years. They may not have lived on Australian commercial radio the way the bigger hits did, but there were still pockets of fans singing every line with committed, full-hearted conviction. Cox, meanwhile, remains a magnetic frontman: eyes closed, head snapping with the rhythm, arm punching the air when the songs reached their lift-off points. The nostalgia was there, of course, but it did not feel lazy. It felt lived-in, carried by songs that have aged with their audience and still know how to pull them back into the glow of another time.
The first major hit was “Faithful”, a track built around loyalty, devotion and steadfast love.The crowd began to sing along to the addictive chorus. Cox sang flawlessly, with ease and without strain, his rich baritone rounded and full of emotional weight.
The night carried more emotional anchors, from “Too Far Gone” and “Tears Too Late” to high-energy crowd movers such as “Black and Gold”, “She Wants It Bad” and “Let Love Come”.
We also heard the Motown classic “The Tracks of My Tears”, an ode to Smokey Robinson. Peter Cox hit the notes as if it were still the ’80s: smooth, relaxed and touched with swagger.
The fans remained largely reticent, not because they were disengaged, but because they were gripped by every word and tune, almost as if at an opera, only to erupt in applause after each song. The delivery was superb.
He ended the night with the big three. The closing stretch fired on all cylinders as Go West moved into their biggest hits. “Call Me” rolled in with a smooth, extended groove that immediately lifted the room, Cox’s baritone sitting warm and confident over a polished arrangement that had the crowd singing. The energy spiked the moment “We Close Our Eyes” hit, those unmistakable synth stabs igniting the venue as the rhythm drove forward and the chorus became a full-room release, reminding everyone why the track remains one of their most enduring live moments.
And finally came “The King of Wishful Thinking”. Cox got the crowd going a cappella before the rhythm section kicked in and sparked the first verse, once again ringing the school bell as everyone climbed aboard the midnight express to the days of childhood sweethearts and Pretty Woman. It was the soundtrack of a generation. The crowd was standing and chanting, and this song felt different from his other tracks, mainly because it crossed so fully into the commercial mainstream. Whether we like it or not, it has paid off handsomely.
In the end, the Go West and Debbie Gibson pairing worked because it did not try to sound the same. One brought the sparkly ache of teenage pop memory; the other brought polished soul-pop confidence and the weight of songs that have lived with people for decades.
Go West with Special Guest Debbie Gibson Australian Tour will continue across Australia. Tickets are available from Destroy All Lines
Sheldon Ang Media would like to thank Estellar PR, Destroy All Lines, Go West and Debbie Gibson for the Media Accreditation.
About Sheldon Ang Media: Sheldon Ang, photojournalist, writer and the founder of Perth-based Sheldon Ang Media (est. May 2022) has been accredited to over 250 of the hottest acts including Taylor Swift (ERAS Tour in Sydney), Coldplay (Perth), AC/DC, KISS, Metallica, Iron Maiden, RHCP and P!NK with reviews shared by the likes of Belinda Carlisle, UB40, Delta Goodrem, and Roxette. He has interviewed the late Ace Frehley (KISS), Suzi Quatro, John Steel (The Animals), Frank Ferrer (Guns N Roses), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Andrew Farris (INXS) plus over 100 artists. He’s also a contributor on Triple M Radio as a music journalist.
