When tourists walking along Sydney Harbour on Sunday night saw a bunch of balaclava-clad concertgoers entering the Sydney Opera House, they may have thought that a very different type of gathering was taking place in the Concert Hall to what was actually going on. Thankfully, it was only anarchy that had swept the Harbour City’s famous sails, with Australian novelty legends TISM returning to Sydney for two nights of some of their biggest hits over the last 40 years. The audience was largely ardent TISM fans who very much embraced the band’s fervour, sprinkled in with a few tourists wanting to catch a show at the Opera House during their time in Sydney.

Safe to say, those concertgoers would have been shocked by the most bizarre show they had ever seen, as a classical choir first took to the stage, singing about Philip Glass’s arse, before being quickly shoved off the stage and replaced by a group of seven anonymous men in sparkling balaclavas, who proceeded to thrash about on stage and spend more than a minute jumping through the audience. The crowd was raucous throughout the set, showing incredible energy and creating an atmosphere that was very fun to be a part of.

The group drew heavily from their third album, Machiavelli and the Four Seasons, which launched them into the public consciousness. Much of the political satire that the band explored in that record still holds up to this day with classic Aussie charm, in a style that modern-day groups like Playlunch have clearly tried to emulate. The work is perhaps a little more edgy than Playlunch, but it is a testament to the group’s legacy that they still draw so much influence now.

The group kicked off with “(He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River”, which was a fantastic way to start the set before moving through the Machiavelli album. While some members of the group have been replaced, the original core still remains and delivered a good performance with solid musicianship and strong vocals even within the novelty setting. Things took an even whackier turn when three giant inflatable figurines came out to bobble around the stage, with one malfunctioning and leaving a poor TISM team member strutting around with a big bobbling head dangling over her face. She eventually received a balaclava for herself, but it was another hilarious moment in a night full of spontaneity and surprises.

With that said, the Opera House was an odd venue for a TISM concert and arguably not the best fit given that in order to fully appreciate the political satire you really do need to understand all of the words. The acoustics in the Concert Hall have a famously muddy sound and muffled diction which in this case made it a little difficult to make out some of the lyrics for the less ardent TISM fans in the room. For most people in the room it mattered little, as they had every single word memorised but perhaps another venue like the Enmore Theatre or City Recital Hall would have suited the group even slightly better.

TISM saved some of their bigger hits for the end of the set, with “Saturday Night Palsy” being a particularly fun sing-along for the crowd and “Greg! The Stop Sign!!” also proving to be a very strong number late in the set. All of the vocalists did a good job in their respective parts, showing off different styles and creating a bit of variety, while the live musicianship blended well with the pre-recorded tracks. The energy for “Greg! The Stop Sign!!” was excellent, with the whole crowd up and dancing and just having the best time, which was emblematic of the night. With the crowd yelling “TISM are wankers” at the end of the main set, the group came back for an encore of three Machiavelli songs, including “Defecate on My Face”, which was another fun track for the audience before the group ended with even more fanfare and another chorus of sarcastic boos.

Overall, this was no doubt one of the weirdest concerts ever to be seen at the Opera House but that was part of its charm with the ardent fans of the group absolutely enjoying every moment of this wacky and wonderful set. While the band had some great vocals and music, what they lacked in musical polish they more than made up for with energy, excitement and unadulterated fun. Ultimately, for a concert like this, the best gauge of its success is the crowd’s reaction and it was clear that everyone in this audience absolutely loved it. Maybe we couldn’t understand what they were saying at all times, but it mattered little. This was as Australian as you can get.

Rating: ★★★★

TISM – Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House – 12 April 2026