Tame Impala – Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Tame Impala – Brisbane Entertainment Centre – 09/10/2026
Support from Ninajirachi
Written by Bella Cockle
Photos by Vincent Shaw
Almost four years to the day since Tame Impala’s last tour of Australia, fans had waited long enough to vibe out with the Perth band and celebrate the release of their 2025 album, Deadbeat. What began as a four-date tour quickly grew to twelve shows across Australia’s major arenas thanks to massive demand from fans. The very first stop is here at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre for three packed evenings.
Joining Tame Impala across this run is our very own Ninajirachi, a DJ and producer who has been a staple of Australia’s electronic scene since 2017 but recently exploded into cross-genre spaces with her latest release, I Love My Computer. These appearances are spliced into the middle of her ongoing Canadian & North American tour, which have proven to be hugely successful with back-to-back sold-out shows. Nina made mention that this Tame Impala support run marks the milestone of her first ever arena performance in Australia; I can say with all certainty that she will be no stranger to this format in the future.
Nina instantly brought life to the Brisbane crowd with her fun, cyber aesthetic visuals and intro audio of layered samples and track bites. This excitement-building walkout ushered us into an organic freestyle mix of ‘girl EDM’, bleeding to newer tracks like ‘London’ and ‘It’s You’. Nina plugged herself into the crowd with her now-iconic wiry DJ deck, glowing to the beat of her music.
If you were lucky enough to catch Nina on her recent Dark Crystal V tour, you might’ve been slightly underwhelmed by the dip in colour and visual elements at this show in comparison. Granted, this is a support slot, and I think her production appeared more limited when it’s competing with the sheer size of an arena stage. Even still, the crowd were quick to play off her energy which shone brighter than any backlights all set.
Fans gave their all for ‘All I Am’ and the song that everybody knew, ‘iPod Touch’; seamlessly mixed into her new track with synth-pop prince Porter Robinson, ‘WannaCry’. We were graced with some unreleased music – a fast, loud jungle beat that instantly piqued everybody’s interest. When Nina re-enters the arena space with a full production arsenal, she will be a force to be reckoned with.
When the lights dropped, the main stage was softly illuminated by moody lamp lights around the impressive circle of instruments; instantly we were warmly invited into a jam session as friends rather than crowd members. The band came out, prepped their instruments and began a familiar melody before frontman Kevin Parker walked out to ‘Apocalypse Dreams’. A floating ceiling of lights crowned the stage like a halo, and hazy pink, orange and purple lights transported the crowd straight into a dreamscape. The opener concluded with a laser show so surreal it provoked audible gasps from the audience around me. Live concerts are always a unique listening experience, but the skill of the Tame Impala lineup amplified by the sonic and visual atmosphere makes these shows a journey unlike anything else.
Beneath the stage, I caught a glimpse of stage technicians working like crazy to maintain the quality of the production. I took a moment to thoroughly appreciate sheer amount of work that goes into creating these incredible performances and the unsung heroes who make it all possible.
Parker laid centre stage under a pyramid of laser light, soaking in the interlude of ‘Gossip’.
The casual experimental jams between ‘Elephant’, ‘Afterthought’ and ‘My Old Ways’ created a seamless transition between the stylistic evolutions of Tame Impala. The floating overhead lights during ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ transformed the arena into a technicolour daydream, the audience floating through space and time in tandem with the waves of music.
Followed by a roaming cameraman, Parker made his way towards the back of the arena to a miniature bedroom-like stage for solo renditions of ‘Ethereal Connection’ and ‘Not My World’. These chill sessions were a momentary pull back down to earth, but swiftly followed by a return to the main stage for the high energy ‘Let It Happen’ – rainbow lights and confetti blew it out of the park. We were gifted with the Australian debut performance of ‘List of People’ from Currents’ B-sides, phased into the incredibly funky ‘Obsolete’.
When the band returned to the stage for the encore, they brought out the fiercely anticipated track ‘Dracula’ followed by ‘The Less I Know The Better’ which had one of the most impressive lighting displays I’ve seen at the Entertainment Centre. Tame closed the show with ‘End Of Summer’, uncoincidentally the closing track of Deadbeat, and showered us with a final burst of rainbow confetti.
Whether you are an unconditional Tame Impala fan or enjoyed them at a particular stage of their career, it would be almost impossible to be rendered disappointed by these shows. The atmosphere and ambience are the perfect recipe to escape reality for a couple of hours; and thanks to this generous run of concerts, you have plenty of opportunities to experience the joy for yourself.
