Live Review + Gallery: Tame Impala in Brisbane

Tame Impala. Photo credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)

Finally, Tame Impala’s Deadbeat Tour has landed on Australian soil. We’ve been subjected to the social media buzz surrounding this tour for almost a year now, having to watch with envy as our North American and European cousins posted countless previews of a stunningly impressive show to come. Well, it’s here. This is Tame Impala’s fifth international tour, and on Friday night, Brisbane was lucky enough to score the first show of the Australian leg. 

Tame Impala is of course the psych-rock-come-electronic-synth-pop brainchild of Kevin Parker, who now splits his time between Los Angeles and his hometown of Perth, Australia, where he recorded latest album Deadbeat (2025) at his iconic waterfront property, Wave House.

Last time I saw Tame Impala way back in 2013, it was a very different world. I remember that show for all the wrong reasons; the lame, ill-suited venue (BCEC), and an all-ages crowd packed with the original fanbase of awkward teenagers. Nowadays, mainstream success lands Parker on much bigger stages with much bigger lighting rigs, and the awkward teenagers have been replaced with hot girls in hotpants (with a whiff of Swifty about them). But I guess that’s what happens once you’ve topped the charts alongside pop idols and worked with the likes of Gaga, Rihanna and Dua Lipa. 

The sentiment at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was certainly cheerful on Friday night – while the pre-show music played, many people passed the time by whipping out their phone torches to create light patterns aimed across the arena in the hopes fellow patrons sitting opposite would mirror the movements – and they did so, with delight. Humans can be so cute sometimes. 

As the set opened to thunderous sounds of crashing waves, Parker sauntered on stage dressed like he’d just rolled out of bed. I suppose this is an ease afforded by “musical genius” status (and a couple of Grammys).  

With a bass fit to release stuck energies from your heart chakra, Apocalypse Dreams from 2012 album, Lonerism, opened the night, albeit remixed to better suit the rave energy that latest album Deadbeat (2025) brings to the tour. Despite the genre update, this track seemed a bit of a stretch for the young audience based on their reaction (or lack thereof). But it wasn’t long before Parker won them over; hands were thrown up into the air to show appreciation for the familiar sounds of Borderline (The Slow Rush, 2020) as what appeared to be an octagonal spaceship descended upon the stage, drenching the band in pulsating curtains of light.

And I must say, the lighting rig for this tour has to be one of the most sophisticated and visually spectacular things I have ever seen at any live performance. The striking technicolour illuminations were a key feature of the evening and should be noted as one the show’s main highlights. 

While Deadbeat (2025) gives us a mix of more laid-back tracks like Loser, this is contrasted with dance tracks like Afterthought, and a collection of tunes that presumably seek to make their mark on the modern rave scene. 

A brief exit from the mainstage, Parker meandered through the venue’s back passageways (by way of the urinal – livestreamed pee break included) to make his way to a smaller secondary stage floating out amongst the crowd. This provided a more intimate setting for rave-inspired tracks, Ethereal Connection and Not My World (Deadbeat, 2025), which were performed as Parker lay on his back filmed, the visuals streamed from a bird’s eye camera position. This drawn-out interlude became an intermission, providing an opportune drinks break for many. 

Parker then returned to the mainstage for a sequence of songs from much-adored 2015 album, Currents. This record has always acted as the historic marker signalling Tame Impala’s sonic shift away from the psych rock essence of Innerspeaker (2010) and Lonerism (2012) to the electronic synth-pop era that catapulted Parker into true mainstream success.    

Let It Happen (Currents, 2015) delivered one of the most intense light shows; the song building as the spaceship once again radiated beams of light from overhead. The drop was accompanied by squeals of sheer delight as a deluge of confetti rained down through spiralling beams of light. Truly magical. This was the highlight of the night for me. 

For the encore, red laser beams danced around the stage for recent hit, Dracula (Deadbeat, 2025), the success of which has been aided by the viral remix from K-pop superstar, JENNIE. Laser lights produced dazzling rainbow prisms for feel-good classic, The Less I Know the Better (Currents, 2015), which gained a huge eruption from crowd as the night was coming to a close. 

Whilst it felt a bit of shame not to get at least one throwback to debut album, Innerspeaker (2010), it was great to see classics like Elephant (2012) still garnering some of the biggest crowd reactions of the night. For longtime fans, Tame Impala’s latest album Deadbeat presents us with another musical pivot that may be a little hard to swallow for some, but after witnessing this phenomenal tour, fans of their older work should not be dissuaded. Ultimately, you have to view the Deadbeat Tour as a culmination of almost two decades of work; an evolution. This is a show of epic proportions that absolutely must not be missed. Tame Impala has grown, and you have to respect that.

Photo gallery by Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle) *photos taken from crowd shot on iPhone