Ruel Shares His Top 5 Unexpected Live Music Memories

Over the weekend, multi-Platinum global Aussie pop sensation Ruel hit the stage at Sydney Town Hall for one of the most epic live experiences of his meteoric career to date. The young hitmaker performed a double-header across Friday and Saturday, backed by more than 40 of Australia’s most exciting young orchestral musicians from Ensemble Apex, as part of the Australian arm of critically acclaimed global concert series, Red Bull Symphonic.

To celebrate the mind-blowing one-time-only performance, which Ruel has since described on social media as being “one of the most surreal things I’ve ever done”, Music Feeds enlisted the ARIA-winning singer-songwriter to share five more of his most unexpected live music memories from the past few years. Read his words down below.

“One of the most surreal things I’ve ever done”

Moment #1: Going down into the pit to sing an encore with the crowd.

Ruel: I was in Philly for the 4th Wall tour and the venue had really easy access from floor to stage so I thought it could be really special to get into the audience with my guitar and mic to sing End Scene surrounded by the crowd. Usually these stunts go wrong for me and things can get hectic but everyone was so respectful and it was such a beautiful, unforgettable moment.

Moment #2: Seeing double in Amsterdam

Ruel:  My first ever gig in the Netherlands was an unforgettable one, as an honorary Dutchman I’d also wanted to go to Amsterdam to play and meet my distant relatives. I had the opportunity to play there for the first time in 2019 and I had the craziest moment. Right in the corner of my eye I was so distracted the whole gig that there was about 12 guys and girls that looked EXACTLY like my family – turns out there were all my 2nd and 3rd cousins I’d never met and some of them were actually called ‘Ruel’ (it’s the family name). 

Moment #3: My first time in Thailand 

Ruel:  It was my first tour in Asia and we were skeptical about going to Thailand as there was only a little data showing I had a fan base there but nothing concrete, we ended up booking a free show outside a Mall in this outdoor venue anyway. It turned out to be one of my biggest shows still to date. Over 6-7 thousand people showed up to the show all singing the songs, it was such a wild, eye opening experience seeing that many fans I had no idea even existed at the time!

Moment #4: Finally going to South America  

Ruel:  Unlike Thailand, I knew there were a bunch of people in Argentina and Brazil that were listening to my music but in this case I just never found an opportunity to get out there for a tour..until the 2023 4th Wall tour. It’s still always a risk going to a new continent for a tour in case it was just a loud minority of people on social media asking you to come, but these shows were honestly the best of my life. The crowd in Argentina was honestly astonishing. The crowd was moving like an ultras section at a football game, so much energy, I miss it so much.

Moment #5: Bergen, Norway Mid Sommer 

Ruel: I got to play a festival in Bergen, (a small city in the West of Norway) a few years ago. The whole day was sooo magical, the setting of the festival was at the bottom of this beautiful mountain, there were tall trees, mountain goats and what felt like a 24hour golden hour. It was dead in the middle of summer so the sun never went down, my crowd was tiny but it was such a special scene I couldn’t even complain. After I got to watch Bon Iver playing in the sunlight at 11:30pm playing his heart out, I honestly shed a few tears 🙂

Further Reading

Ruel Announces Covers EP, Shares ‘Kiss Me’

Ruel And DMA’s Release First Of Two New Collaborative Singles, ‘What A Life’

triple j’s Like A Version in 2021