8 May 2026 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words and pictures by Bec Harbour
There is an odd assortment waiting in line for Thundercat’s headliner at the Fortitude Music Hall tonight, even for the Valley. And I am not sure that this is costuming for the concert or if it’s just their usual get-up.
First up tonight is Katayanagi Twins an enigmatic DJ duo from New Zealand. And if you have seen Scott Pilgrim vs the World, you will recognise the name appropriation from here. They played a solid set kicking off with Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’ mix. The crowd were into it and the front row were getting their groove on.
Katayanagi Twins & crowd – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Timing tonight seemed an optional thing with the Katayanagi Twins coming on earlier than scheduled and Thundercat coming on 15 or 20 minutes late (which made the intermission seem epically long). Finally, the house lights dimmed and there was a very long intro song played over the PA.
After a while the drummer, complete with disco-ball crash helmet stepped onto the stage with the light refracting all over the room every time he moved. From there he launched into a drum solo until Thundercat took the stage with his 6 string bass and waved and grinned at the audience who called out how much they loved him (this will be a theme over the night).
Kicking off the set with ‘Children of the Baked Potato’ the whole venue seemed to have a collective release at this point and swayed and moved to the fusion of funk-jazz on offer. Next up was ‘Candlelight’ followed by a greeting by Thundercat and a few stories of how much he loves coming to Brisbane and what mischief he gets up to while here.
Thundercat – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
The songs seemed to flow one into another and there was ‘Black Qualls’, ‘How Sway’ and ‘Overseas’ in there. Walking from the front of stage to the back of the room, it was noticeable the shift in punters moods – the frenzy of the front of barrier and calling out in response to Thundercat’s annecdotes (including some wag in the corner who kept yelling out that he loved him in the most awkward lulls in sound) to an almost still and reverent back section where everyone was intently watching that stage.
We were already 45 mins into what was promised to be a 90 minute set but who knows based on the elastic timings that had been going on tonight. We got ‘ADD Through the Roof’, ‘Pozole’, ‘Dragonball Durag’ and ‘Anakin Learns His Fate’ in the next patch with some more crowd interaction (including the lovelorn fellow in the corner).
Thundercat – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
With the set winding up on ‘Them Changes’, punters began leaving the venue, was Thundercat known for no encore? Sure enough, there was one more song, ‘No More Lies’ before the house lights came up and we all called it a night.
This was my first live show for Thundercat (having missed out on the last 2 tours due to a clash) and I was not sure what to expect. It was amazing of course, and graduating from the smaller venues about town is testament to the fantastic sonic performance Thundercat brings, but there was a small part of me that wanted to be seated in a smaller venue with drink in hand, able to take the performance in and not worry about dodging the usual things that happen in huge venues.
