Review: Suzi Quatro at RAC Arena
Suzi Quatro at RAC Arena
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
We’ve seen Suzi Quatro a few times in recent years at 2000-ish-seaters, so to make the leap up to Perth’s cavernous RAC Arena for the first show of her 41st Aussie tour may have been an unknown quantity for some—even in ‘intimate’ mode it’s a hell of a big room to command.
We needn’t have been concerned, though: this 75-year-old grandmother still rocks hard and has the power to cast her spell over the three or four thousand of all ages excitedly joining her for the ride. All this on the sheer power of her own charisma, too—the stage is adorned with minimalist efficiency, proving conclusively that nobody needs to overcompensate with towers of amps and cascades of pyro when you have this many great songs.
From early favourite Wild One through a cavalcade of classics, the crowd are stomping and singing along to favourite after favourite—I May Be Too Young, Daytona Demon, Tear Me Apart, Mama’s Boy, Stumblin’ In, 48 Crash—and that’s just in the first act. It’s not purely an exercise in nostalgia either: songs from this decade’s albums, co-written with her son Richard Tuckey (No Soul/No Control, I Sold My Soul Today), stand tall, as does Shine A Light, a collab from her recent album with KT Tunstall.
With a barber’s razor-sharp pickup band (guitarist Tim Henwood from Palace Of The King, Superjesus and many more; drummer Johnny Salerno of Noiseworks, Belinda Carlisle and more; keysman Paul, who has also played with Jon Stevens, Belinda Carlisle and more; and MVP lead guitarist Nat Allison, a solo artist and session go-to) bringing her impressive back catalogue to life, Suzi Q had a ball engaging with the crowd. She amiably shared recollections and even indulged in a bass solo, which showed that she has no need to lean on backing tapes like some rockers have in recent years. Her voice is still in great shape as well, as are the backing vocals of her band.
One thing she didn’t mention during the show but did on the Facebook fan page she helms is that she’d woken that morning to a bunch of flowers from husband Rainer for their 32nd wedding anniversary.
The hits kept on coming through the second half of the show, strolling out in a leatherette jumpsuit and kicking off with Rock Hard, her contribution to the soundtrack of the rock n’ roll movie Times Square, starring Trini Alvarez and the voice of Tim Curry, followed by She’s In Love With You, Can The Can, Devil Gate Drive and more. Not too many people write songs with this much stomp and verve any more, more’s the pity.
There is often a very fine line between self-confidence and self-aggrandisement, and Suzi has a tendency to push that at times. Having interviewed her multiple times, I can confirm she is a fiercely intimidating subject with more self-belief in her little finger than most of us have in total. If I’d achieved half of what she had (in addition to being a feted rock star, she is also an actress—a roar of approval greets mention of her role as Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days—author, radio host and more), I’d big myself up a bit as well, and her rabid fans didn’t mind at all, lapping up every word.
In fact, there’s very little to complain about other than an arguably unnecessary reliance on cover songs (Rockin’ In The Free World is great, but Bad Moon Rising, Sweet Little Rock n’ Roller and Desperado take up time which could have better showcased her own beloved numbers).
Quatro has nothing but flattering words to say for Australia and the crowd, unlike some, and by the time we got to stone-cold classics Can The Can, Devil Gate Drive and If You Can’t Give Me Love, everyone was returning the love, on their feet clapping, stomping, whooping and a-hollering.
That’s how to do it.
SHANE PINNEGAR
Photos by Linda Dunjey
