CONCERT REVIEW: EMPIRE OF THE SUN AT MGM MUSIC HALL

On May 24, 2025, MGM Music Hall in Fenway, MA, welcomed Empire of the Sun. The Australian electronic music duo formed in 2007 by Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore has started a 2025 headlining US tour in support of their latest album “Ask That God.” Kicking off on February 26th in Honolulu with stops in Chicago, Las Vegas, Austin, Atlanta, and Brooklyn, the tour ended in Boston on May 24th.

Opening for Empire of the Sun is Roi Turbo, the London-based electronic duo formed by brothers Benjamin & Conor McCarthy. They are from South Africa, and their music draws lots of influence from African disco and psychedelic electronic funk.

The group was formed in their home city of Cape Town in 2020. Benjamin McCarthy came from an electronic background as a producer and DJ, while brother Conor, meanwhile, came from a band background, playing in alt-rock and alt- pop outfits. During COVID lockdown, the brothers started to write music. They composed songs that felt the most natural to them.

“We were listening to 70s and 80s African disco and funk records at the time, and the contrast between the synths and raw live elements of these records really inspired us,” says Ben & Conor, who are also noted that they found their inspiration from Larry Levan, William Onyeabor, and Pino D’Angiò. “Over the years we bought as many synths, drums, guitars and microphones as we could get our hands on and would experiment for weeks on end until we got the sound we were going for. This combination of analog gear has now become a staple in the Roi Turbo sound.”

They continue: “We wanted to create a project that encompassed all our niche tastes in music, fashion, automobiles and design, free of any pretentiousness, just quality music that gets you moving.”

On April 25, 2025, the group released their new EP, “Bazooka” via Maison Records. At its core, Bazooka reflects the lifelong bond between Benjamin and Conor McCarthy – their shared influences, differing perspective, and unified vision. The track was born out of their shared love for dance music from around the world, they infuse a hybrid of African and Western influences from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. “Bazooka” packs an explosive punch with its catchy synth and guitar leads. Inspired by 80s South African Bubblegum disco, with a catchy bass line and piano, the music will definitely get you onto the floor. “Bazooka” follows the previously released single “Dystopia.”

On April 25th via Maison Arts Roi Turbo released the new single “Bobo Spirit.” The single “Bobo Spirit” brings acid house piano chords into a Balearic context of open air and sunsets – a world of heavy- weight groove propulsion. Of the track, Roi Turbo says: “Bobo Spirit” is a mid-tempo groove that is driven by catchy guitar licks, bouncing piano chords, rolling digi bass, and sci-fi synth leads. We had the idea of making a song that infused psychedelic melodies with a spacey sci-fi like feel, in a way it’s a melting pot of all the sounds we were listening to at the time.”

At MGM Music Hall Roi Turbo was fantastic. During their set, they performed songs like “Hyper League” (2022) and “Volcano Cigarette Shop” (2023). Picking up where other great beat-driven siblings like Soulwax’s David and Stephen Dewaele left off, they create a classic disco-funk-house sound that skips between sound system eras of multiple continents.

Following Roi Turbo, Empire of the Sun hit the stage. Their performance began with a blast. The introduction video lit up the back LED screen, showing lighting striking while wind swept across the crowd. The extraordinary opening was visually powerful and warmed up the audience in the room for the sold-out show.

The Australian electronic pop duo, consisting of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore was fantastic. Steele was dressed in his kabuto headpiece and war paint. The stage was designed with boulders and a giant blow-up head and hand that corresponded with the graphics on the LED screen behind them. Touring and performing live alongside Luke and Nick are musicians Nicholas Semrad (keyboards/synth), Ian Ball (guitar), and Olly Peacock (drums). They are also joined by two dancers who remained anonymous the entire show, wearing provocative masks the entire night.

Exceptional! Exceptional! Exceptional! It was a very well-prepared event. After the band and the dancers came onto the stage, they opened with “Changes,” the opening track from their most recent album release. They kept the crowd moving by following with “The Feeling you Get,” another track from the new album. Following was one of Empire of the Sun’s hit “Half Mast,” which was sampled by the late rapper Mac Miller on his song “The Spins” (2010).

The set was broken into five sections, each involving an extravagant costume change. The rest of the night featured songs such as “Cherry Blossom,” “We are the People,” “DNA,” “Television,” “Music on the Radio,” “Resolve,” High and Low,” etc.

My God! It was an exceptional night of music. One of the best concerts I have ever seen during my long career as a photographer.

ABOUT

Empire of the Sun has released several studio albums. The group’s 2008 debut album, Walking on a Dream, brought the duo international success and has been certified double platinum in Australia and gold in the United Kingdom.  The album provided a number of internationally charting singles including the title track, which peaked at number ten on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and “We Are the People”, which peaked at number fourteen on the UK Singles Chart. The band performed as a co-headliner at the touring Future Music Festival around Australia in February/March 2010. They made their international debut at the Vive Latino Festival in Mexico City in April of tme year. The band made their American debut at the Lollapalooza festival.

The band’s second album, Ice on the Dune, was released in June 2013, while their third album Two Vines was released in October 2016. A fourth album, Ask That God, was released in July 2024.

The duo won a number of Australian music awards, with Walking on a Dream receiving 11 nominations at the ARIA music Awards of 2009 and winning seven. As a live band, they have performed internationally and are known for their flamboyant costumes and elaborate stage sets.

Setlist

1-      Changes

2-      The Feeling You Get

3-      Half Mast

4-      Cherry Blossom

5-      We are the People

6-      Way to Go

7-      DNA

8-      Television

9-      Music on the Radio

10-  Resolve

11-  High and Low

12-  Swordfish Hotkiss Night

13-  Ask That God

14-  Happy Like You

15-  Walking on a Dream

Encore:

16-  Standing on the Store

17-  Alive