In The Round: Mallrat Concert Review

Happy Brisbane Festival! This month is packed with arts and cultural events in the Sunshine state’s capital city. Although the month really kicks off tomorrow with Riverfire (and stay tuned for that) we’re pregaming tonight with Brisbane’s pop princess, Mallrat! The Tivoli has been set up with a special treat for their In The Round series as part of the festivities, so follow along for the show as we prepare for a month of live music!

This is what happened at Mallrat’s In The Round show at The Tivoli on September 5, 2025.

SISSY

Warming everyone up on the decks is Sissy, a Melbourne-based DJ who has most recently been partying with Sycco in the zorb. Tonight she’s making a special appearance to provide the perfect beats and vibes for a club-style dance as the crowd congregate around the central stage. Her set, which is filled with deep cut party anthems, is drawing a crowd of its own at the rear stage. From the front to the back to the balcony, people are bouncing to the beat and singing along because Sissy knows how to curate her mixes for the audience to get them in the party spirit.

2CHARM

Our first act on the centre stage was new act 2charm, featuring Cub Sport’s beloved Tim Nelson and Sam Netterfield. The duo, who have already made plenty of fans go wild for their on-stage charisma as a band, focus in on their capacity to charm the audience as a couple in their performance. With their debut single boyfriend only released to day, it felt extra special to be at the gig to see how audiences would react to the music. It was all cheers from the ground AND the balcony, as 2charm revealed they weren’t just singers, but dancers too. They constantly teased the crowd with their tantalising dances, which garnered so many screams, while carrying a dreamy hyperpop set on vocals. 2charm made an exciting debut, instantly hooking the interest of the audience while presenting themself as another formidable addition to the Aussie pop landscape.

Fave song: boyfriend

MALLRAT

We were plunged into darkness as an enchanting synth melody flooded the venue. Slowly, lights on the centre stage began to flicker to life, providing glimpses of the musicians taking their places. The staging instantly provided a sense of intimacy to the show, putting the audience as close as possible to the music and allowing it to become an all-encompassing experience without the barricade of the proscenium arch to contain things and compete with. Arriving in a pure white dress which flowed like her hair, Mallrat seemed angelic in nature, especially in the moments where she would find herself with a halo of light surrounding her on-stage.

She began with the ethereal opening track of her latest album, My Darling, My Angel and followed this with the grittier club-track Pavement. Mallrat introduced herself and shared her excitement to be performing as part of Brisbane Festival and The Tivoli’s In The Round series. Throughout the night, she made fun with the unique staging, connecting with the audience in every direction for a multi-dimensional performance. Her set would feature her 2025 album, Light Hit My Face Like A Straight Right in full and we continued on to the middle tracks from there.

Her new music is magical. It’s hyperpop, showing mastery with a dreamy synth sound and lyrical genius. Mallrat’s new songs are the spiritual successors to the Romantics’ poems and her performance is an art-piece in and of itself. Virtue appears as a soul-seeking reflection, with darker beats suggesting that uncertainty. Defibrillator returns us to that place of comfort in a club, where we can keep on moving until our problems drift away. There’s a bittersweetness to the set, which is both sonically heavenly but with a deeper undercurrent.

Hocus Pocus, Hideaway and Ray of Light weave together a narrative, emphasising a dance-pop beat that you can lose yourself dancing to, while detailing how destructive love can become when we choose to give into it and allow ourselves to depend on others. You can enjoy the songs for the sound in the moment, which Mallrat invites us to do with her tonight, dancing confidently as the crowd joins along. The complexity of her lyrics is balanced out with the lightness of the musicality, which uplifts in the moment while adding something to spark the curiosity to come back for later.

Mallrat concluded the first part of her set with Horses, a tearjerking memorial to her sister which united the crowd. She gave the music a moment to settle, before inviting the audience to join her for some deep cuts and fan favourites, starting with Make Time and the very cool Drive Me Round. Her cover of Lana Del Ray’s Radio is one that beats the original (for me!) and I was so glad we got to see her perform it live tonight.

The show came to its conclusion too quickly. But not without a couple of Mallrat’s most iconic releases – Charlie and Rockstar will always be a formidable duo and playing them back-to-back never fails to go off for the audience. There wasn’t a single member of the audience who didn’t sing along to all the words of Charlie. And the heart-shaped guitar Mallrat pulls out just for the crunchy and LOUD ending to Rockstar ensures the band ends on their highest note and leaves you wanting more. We were also given a surprise encore of Groceries, during which Mallrat allowed herself to fully soak in the love and adoration of the crowd. If this is Brisbane Festival-eve, I’m excited to see how we get bigger and better from there, because Mallrat in the round is going to be hard to top!

Fave song: Horses

SOUNDS GOOD?

Mallrat’s dreamy synth club hits are beloved for a reason! If you’re planning a party setlist and are looking for some more musicians to complement the Mallrat songs you’ve already chosen, choose a few tracks from these artists too:

Sycco – Another badass Brisbane singer-songwriter and producer, Sycco has been having great success with her dance pop music and recent album Zorb. If you like the synthy dance beats of Mallrat, you’ll love Sycco too and be able to grab some tickets for her upcoming shows!

Blusher – This pop trio from Melbourne have been putting out some fantastic music for singing along to from the crowd or dancing yourself off your feet to. They’ve got a classic girl band vibe, with beautiful harmonies and fun choreography. With their own tour coming up, make sure you snag some tickets before they’re all sold out!

Eves Karydas – Eves Karydas’ music is upbeat in sound and sentimental in nature. On stage, she’s very cool and confident, with charm and energy that infects the audience. Her pop music will easily have you moving along to the sound of the beat.