Gig Review: Shady Nasty at The Tivoli, Brisbane - Glorious punk behind curtains (3 July 2026)

It's a crisp Friday night in Brisbane, end of a long, pen-pushing working week, and the Tivoli is hosting an intimate (but no less hard) set from Sydney trio Shady Nasty.

The curtains are drawn - there's no viewing from the mezzanine or foyer tonight. Keen punters and gig-goers are shepherded into the shared floor, front and centre. They watch the trio, recently returned from their successful European jaunt, rip into their unique fusion of hip-hop, post-punk, hardcore, and notes of jazz. There are two kinds of punters this evening: those up front who have little regard for their bodies, and those towards the back who know better.

The band opens with G-SHOCK and it’s clear there are no chains on anybody this evening – the room is alive, vital signs redlining as lead vocalist Kevin Stathis jaws about fried rice and diet coke – key pillars of a Chinese-migrant upbringing on Australia’s Central Coast. HESITANCE, PRETTYBOYZ, and CAREDBRAH follow with the revelation that bassist Haydn Green hasn’t slept since the previous evening.

Shady Nasty’s set is jammed with heavy riffs, heavy basslines, and heavy themes such as melancholy, expectations, solitude, and substance abuse. However, the energy in their performance makes their music feel life-affirming and resonant. It’s little wonder this band has amassed such a loyal and dedicated following during their rise as a must-see (and must-see-again) act in the domestic alternative music scene. The endless crowd-surfing throughout their set would suggest as much.

The energy slows for ATHLEAN-X as Stathis showcases his underrated singing before picking up again for IBIZA and set highlight SCREWDRIVA, during which a circle pit manifests like a school of fish parting in perfect instinct as Green’s familiar bassline kicks in.

The trio open the final quarter of their set with a new song SUNSCREEN – a perfectly introspective preamble before firing into the anthemic Get Buff, the band’s longstanding staple about the tension between desires and cultural expectation: “Tough love, you’re not working hard enough”. Released over six years ago, it’s apparent Shady Nasty has indeed worked hard to evolve sonically, as demonstrated in their closer HARDSTYLE, striking the balance between the band’s hip-hop roots and post-punk future.

After a short-lived outcry, the trio returns for their customary encore. “All our other songs are shit so we’re going to play SCREWDRIVA again.” There are very few bands who could get away with repeating a song in their set, but Shady Nasty has a way of leaving their audience both satisfied and hungry for more. With how they effortlessly weave genres and styles into their music, this is just another note about this excellent band that leaves me unsurprised.

Photo credit: @darcygossmedia