Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany8th November 2025
John Butler - “Prism - Uk & Euro Tour 2025” - Support: Noah Dillon
With ‘Prism’, JOHN BUTLER’s new studio album released just a few weeks ago, the Australian musician officially bids farewell to the JOHN BUTLER TRIO and returns to being a one-man band, even though the album was not produced or recorded single-handedly and the performances on the current autumn/winter 2025 tour are not solo performances, but feature JOHN BUTLER as part of a four-piece band.
This band consists of former JOHN BUTLER TRIO drummer Michael Barker, joined by Michael Boase on percussion and Ian Peres on bass and keyboard. JOHN BUTLER has brought along a young colleague from his homeland as the support act: NOAH DILLON.
Noah Dillon
It is still incredibly early, just 6:30 p.m., when NOAH DILLON enters the stage as the supporting act. As a singer and songwriter, he is a solo artist who, like JOHN BUTLER, comes from Australia and spends the next 30 minutes alone on the large stage, where the instruments for JOHN BUTLER and his band’s performance are already set up.
At this early hour - doors opened just half an hour earlier at 6 p.m. - the Live Music Hall is not yet really full. The few songs that NOAH DILLON performs with his acoustic guitar all have a slightly melancholic touch, are well crafted, and thus the young artist manages to earn some applause.
John Butler
After the support act’s performance, there is no need for a long break to rearrange the stage, yet JOHN BUTLER and his bandmates don’t take to the stage until shortly after 7:30 p.m. and kick off without further ado with ‘Going Solo’, the wonderful opening track from their current studio album ‘Prism’, from which nine of the twelve songs will be performed during the course of the evening.
JOHN BUTLER is extremely attentive to the audience this evening. Immediately after the first song, he greets his fans and promises an evening of laughter, tears, joy and sorrow. He says that he will be expressing his views on various topics throughout the evening and that this will probably hurt the feelings of some of the fans in the audience, for which he apologises. What a fitting transition to ‘So Sorry’, the second song of the evening, also from the current studio album.
Throughout the evening, songs from the new studio album alternate with songs from the good old days of the JOHN BUTLER TRIO. The four-piece band is in brilliant form throughout the evening. However, it is noticeable that JOHN BUTLER is clearly the boss on stage. Even though he spends most of his time on the left side of the stage (as seen from the audience), performing either standing or sitting, the spotlight is always on him, casting him in a favourable light.
Only rarely does the bandleader stray into the otherwise deserted centre of the stage. His three bandmates, who tend to stay in the background (percussionist Michael Boase and Michael Barker on drums) or on the right-hand side of the stage (Ian Peres on bass/keyboard), have to make do with a little less light. The band works its way through the set list with great confidence, occasionally encouraging the audience to sing along (‘Gets No Better’), sounding comparatively heavy at times (‘The Way Back’), only to groove in an earthy way the next moment (‘Wade In The Water’).
And in between, JOHN BUTLER keeps talking. He talks about how much he enjoys getting out into nature in his beloved homeland of Australia. How his smartphone switches from 5G to 4G, then to 3G, and eventually loses its mobile connection altogether. He recounts how he can then see the Milky Way and the Mars with the bare eye in the dark, and reminds us that some people would love to travel to Mars. And yes, he would be happy if those people actually did. They would be away from Earth. Far away.
And then the time is ripe for ‘Ocean’. JOHN BUTLER is now the only artist on stage, takes his seat, picks up his 11-string guitar and gets started. Here, too, he doesn’t start with the song straight away, but talks. ‘Ocean’ is a prayer for him, he says. In doing so, he invokes the community. "Don’t turn off your mind, don’t turn off your heart." Seen in this perspective, “Ocean” is a prayer for the sake of community.
The next 11 minutes turn into a demonstration of his abilities. JOHN BUTLER is an outstanding guitarist, and this becomes more than clear in ‘Ocean’. Even in between, especially after the louder parts of this legendary instrumental, cheers break out again and again, but towards the end they erupt completely. The second half of the performance also has some highlights. More and more fans dance to the beat, for example during the chorus of ‘King Of California’ or more generally during ‘Treat Yo Mama’, ‘Trippin On You’ and ‘Doing Just Fine’.
During the latter song, JOHN BUTLER impresses with a wonderful solo, during which he once again finds himself in the middle of the stage. ‘Zebra’, one of the most successful songs from the JOHN BUTLER TRIO’s past, concludes the regular set. Three more songs as an encore round off the evening. The four men have now been on stage for well over two hours and finally end the evening with the funky ‘Funky Tonight’, allowing themselves to be celebrated one last time.
Setlist
01. Going Solo
02. So Sorry
03. Better Than (John Butler Trio song)
04. Used to Get High (John Butler Trio song)
05. Gets No Better
06. The Way Back
07. Wade in the Water (John Butler Trio song)
08. Doing Just Fine
09. Ocean
10. Outta My Head
11. King of California
12. Treat Yo Mama (John Butler Trio song)
13. Trippin On You
14. Zebra (John Butler Trio song)
15. Peaches & Cream (John Butler Trio song)
16. Leave the Rest to Earth
17. Funky Tonight (John Butler Trio song)
All pictures by André Wilms
