Review: Tame Impala at RAC Arena

Tame Impala at RAC Arena
w/ Ninajirachi
Saturday, October 24, 2026

There are concerts you enjoy, and then there are concerts that leave you standing in the crowd wondering how someone has managed to create something that looks and feels that incredible. Tame Impala’s return to Perth on Saturday night was firmly the latter, with Kevin Parker turning RAC Arena into an immersive, kaleidoscopic experience that felt almost impossible to look away from.

Ninajirachi opened the night with a DJ set that got the crowd ready for what was to come. Armed with hits from last year’s breakthrough debut album I Love My Computer, the Central Coast electronic producer delivered familiar favourites like iPod Touch alongside a new release that went down well with the audience, building energy in the arena without taking away the anticipation for the main act.

When Tame Impala took to the stage next and opened with Apocalypse Dreams, the reaction was immediate. Hearing Kevin Parker’s vocals fill the arena for the first time was enough to give you goosebumps, but it was the production surrounding him that really set the show apart. Lasers swept across the arena as enormous lights rotated and shifted through different shapes and colours, while the visuals on the screens added another layer to an already surreal experience.

Feels Like We Only Go Backwards was a standout, with rainbow-coloured lights circling around Parker and creating a visual that felt almost as dreamy as the song itself. It was the kind of production that made you appreciate just how different Tame Impala’s music feels when experienced live. Eventually was another highlight, with its performance building into something genuinely moving. The combination of the lighting and the way the song was reworked for the arena made it feel completely absorbing, leaving the audience taking in every second.

Parker also brought his signature sense of humour to the show. At one point, the concert paused for his now-familiar bathroom break, with cameras following him backstage rather than leaving the audience watching filler footage. This time, the segment featured Fremantle Dockers star Andy Brayshaw, dressed in his full playing kit, who appeared to catch Parker attempting to enter his cubicle. For Parker, a Perth local and proud Fremantle Dockers number one ticket holder, the cameo was a particularly fitting nod to his hometown.

The quirky interlude led into a performance from a podium in the middle of the general admission crowd, where Parker took on a more DJ-like role, mixing and performing Ethereal Connection and Not My World. Seeing him bring these tracks to life from within the crowd offered a different perspective on his music before he returned to the main stage for Let It Happen. As the beat dropped, confetti burst into the air, filling the arena as the lights exploded around him. It was one of those moments where the entire crowd seemed to move as one.

The sense of community carried through to the encore. After New Person, Same Old Mistakes, Parker left the stage, prompting the crowd to call him back. Rather than the usual cries for one more song, the arena erupted into the Fremantle Dockers chant. It was a uniquely Perth moment, with thousands of people joining in and Parker clearly loving every second of it. When he returned, he thanked whoever had started the chant, acknowledging the crowd’s enthusiasm.

The Less I Know the Better brought the arena together for one of the night’s biggest singalongs before End of Summer closed the show. By then, the audience had been taken through an experience that extended well beyond the music itself, with every lighting change and visual adding to the feeling of being completely immersed in Parker’s world.

Tame Impala’s Perth show was a reminder of just how powerful live music can be when every element comes together. The production was spectacular, but it never overshadowed the music that brought everyone there in the first place. For Parker, returning to his hometown made the night feel even more special, particularly with the crowd finding its own way to remind him where he was. It was a show that left RAC Arena buzzing long after the final song had finished.

MOLLY ELLIOT

Photos by Linda Dunjey