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Bear McCreary

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InterviewsTour Interview
July 3, 2025
Kynan Arden

Interview with Bear McCreary

Grammy Award–nominated, Emmy and BAFTA Award–winning composer and artist Bear McCreary will

perform music from his globally renowned catalogue live in Australia this July.

Best known for his work on God of War, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Outlander, Battlestar Galactica, and The Walking Dead, McCreary will be playing selections from his iconic scores along with music from his epic rock concept album ‘The Singularity’ on his hugely anticipated Themes & Variations tour. Starting on the 18th April in London, McCreary will then travel through Europe and North America before landing in Australia in July.

Bringing the orchestral and emotive nature of his compositions and score work together with the kinetic

nature of a rock show, the live experience will feature a seven-piece band led by McCreary.

“After celebrating the twentieth anniversary of my first screen credit, for composing the music to 2004’s Battlestar Galactica, along with the release of my debut rock record, The Singularity, the time has finally come to take my music on the road!” says McCreary. “I am thrilled to perform highlights from throughout my career and visit some of my favourite cities in the world. I look forward to connecting with fans and bringing my music to bombastic life on the concert stage. Let’s go!”

BEAR McCREARY 

McCreary’s prolific talents earned widespread acclaim in 2004, with his work on the influential series

Battlestar Galactica introducing audiences to his music. His career has continued to flourish since then,

with McCreary becoming a three-time Grammy Award nominee, a four-time Emmy Award nominee and

winner of the Emmy for ‘Outstanding Original Main Title Theme’ (‘Da Vinci’s Demons’), and the fifth most celebrated composer in the history of the International Film Music Critics Association. 

Recent projects include the Amazon Original hit series ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’; ‘Foundation’ for Apple TV+; the beloved Starz series ‘Outlander’; Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’; Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Films’ ‘10 Cloverfield Lane’; AMC’s global phenomenon ‘The Walking Dead’; Marvel’s ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’.; and the video game ‘Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge’ for Disney. 

McCreary’s acclaimed scores to Sony PlayStation’s blockbusters ‘God of War’ and ‘God of War Ragnarök’ have earned him honours including Grammy Award nominations for ‘Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games’ and awards from the Game Awards, the D.I.C.E. Awards, the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, the International Film Music Critics Association, the ASCAP Composers Choice Awards, and the BAFTA Games Awards.

‘The Singularity’ is an epic concept album that features an all-star lineup of vocal talent and musicians, including Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Rufus Wainwright, Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Slash, Joe Satriani, and more. Cinematic in its presentation, ‘The Singularity’ is also a graphic novel, with select monologues from the novel appearing as narrations on the album, read by actors Lee Pace (The Hobbit, Foundation), Danai Gurira (Black Panther, The Walking Dead), and Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, God of War Ragnarök).

Tickets for Bear McCreary’s Australian tour are on sale to the general public from 10am local time, Wednesday 26 March.

For ticketing and pre-sale information, visit destroyalllines.com. 

BEAR McCREARY AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES

Wednesday 23 July Forum Melbourne

Thursday 24 July Enmore Theatre Sydney

Friday 25 July Eatons Hill Hotel Brisbane

Monday 28 July Astor Theatre Perth

BEAR MCCREARY:  Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Tik Tok

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Gig ReviewsReviews
June 24, 2025
STM

[Review] Bear McCreary @ Forum Theatre, Melbourne, 23/07/2025

For the past 20 years we’ve witnessed a rich stream of pop culture spectacles from acclaimed tv shows, box office busting movies, and captivating interactive experiences found in video games. And for the past 20 years, it’s a good chance that the scores for many of these spectacles that provided that atmospheric audio stimuli  that bring characters and stories to life were written, produced, and masterfully assembled by man whose name is so cool that it certainly would have caught many eyes during credit rolls: Bear McCreary. With an ensemble of tremendously talented virtuosi, including his very own brother Brendan on vocals, McCreary brought his world class Themes and Variations tour down under, taking up on an unforgettable journey throughout his career.

Warming us up for the night was the Sydney-born artist Portair, whose talent and sound greatly exceeds that of a mere warm up act. The solo troubadour blended an appealing mix of electronic and earthy melodies that were delicate and moving, the kind of music that could provide a soundtrack in itself to one’s daily adventures growing up. 

The interval between the two acts did not leave us tapping our feet in anxious anticipation for long, and I’m sure a few drinks were spilled as patrons ran back to the stage as the lights dimmed and Bear, alongside his band, entered the fray to an orchestral overture right into one opening tune of his recent album, The Singularity: Incinerator. The electrifying energy from the first note played was as palpable as a fiery dance of dragons. Omer Ben-Zvi shreds the lead guitar like Barry Allen himself. Pete Griffin slaps and plucks the bass like a tire Lord of Low End. Paul Cartwright makes the violin sing as if he’s possessed Paganini. Gene ‘The Atomic Clock’ Hoglan smacked and rattle the drum kit like a thunder god. Brendan McCreary is an incredible vocalist with a style akin to say M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold for example, with an incredible vocal range fitting for anything from slower melodic tunes to heavy and fast metal. And Bear McCreary, the master composer who has put all this talent and music together, lead the entire performance with the presence of a true maestro….and perhaps a rock n’ roll legend.

The night was, as mentioned above, a versatile and diverse journey across many projects in McCreary’s career, playing famous and masterful themes from cinematic masterpieces such as God of War, Rings of Power, Outlander, Black Sails Battlestar Galactica, many with that slight metal variation mixed in, to independent compositions made by Bear seperate from any projects written throughout his life and career. And this piece would be excruciatingly bereft had I made no mention of the legendary composer’s amazing versatility. Raeb The Dwarven  Bard utilised such a variety of instruments like a fine art, from guitars to keys to a giant drum, even the accordion and (my personal favourite instrument of all time) the famous Hurdy-Gurdy, a musical tool so unique, historical, and even versatile itself that it would make Apollo himself swoon. 

I left this experience upon its conclusion with a whole new level of appreciation for composition. Whether it’s for film, tv, video games, theatre, or even a concept album, it is such a beautiful thing to be able to make storytelling so much more audible and captivating, having a creative outlet that involves figuring out what notes and chords should be weaved into a character’s arc, a significant event, or even a conversation. And Bear McCreary is one to absolutely consider as one of the Gods of this art form,  starting off as a protégé of the iconic Elmer Bernstein and then proceeding to weave a decades long thread of incredible works, and will continue to do so. Seeing his talent live and watching an artist so immersed in their love of music and performing it is an unforgettable experience, and just further shows the importance of the soundtrack in any aspect of art and entertainment….and even life itself. 

BEAR McCREARY AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
Wednesday 23 July Forum Melbourne
Thursday 24 July Enmore Theatre Sydney
Friday 25 July Eatons Hill Hotel Brisbane
Monday 28 July Astor Theatre Perth

https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/bear-mccreary

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