Pendulum Tour Review – 06/03/26 at Palace Foreshore, Melbourne
Australian drum and bass band Pendulum hit the stage in St Kilda on Friday night to celebrate their new album Inertia, their first full-length record since 2010. Released in late 2025, the album sees the band returning to their classic EDM/rock hybrid sound while introducing newer and heavier influences. As a fan of the band’s entire discography, it was incredibly exciting to see how the new album would play live.
Pendulum is currently touring the country in support of the new album, and this Melbourne show happened to fall within the 2026 lineup of Palace Foreshore gigs. This is a pop-up venue in St Kilda that transforms one of the Palais Theatre’s car parks into a mini outdoor music festival. With a huge main stage surrounded by bars, various seating options, and a range of food trucks, the setup was surprisingly well utilised. The opening act played for an hour or so as the sun set and a cool ocean breeze drifted over the packed crowd. Everyone had room to dance, the mosh wasn’t too squishy, and after a few songs it was easy to forget you were standing in a giant parking lot.
The opener for the gig was Ekko & Sidetrack, a DnB duo from Perth. I’ve been aware of these two for a while and enjoy a lot of their music. Their more traditional drum and bass sound was a great way to ease the crowd into Pendulum’s set. The duo played for an hour — quite a long time for an opener — and they didn’t let the energy drop for a moment. I also really appreciated the Kevin McCallister T-shirt worn by one of the DJs.
Once the sun had gone down, Pendulum exploded onto the stage with an all-encompassing set that spanned the many eras of the band. The new album got a lot of love, with a large majority of the tracklist making an appearance. Heavier songs like Cannibal, Halo, and Napalm had the audience headbanging, with mosh pits opening across the tarmac. Lead vocalist Rob Swire did an incredible job on these heavier cuts as well, especially on Save the Cat, where his screaming performance sounded the best I’ve ever heard it live.
The more melodic tracks from Inertia also received a great response, particularly the album’s closing number Cartagena. As someone who has followed the band for almost two decades, it was fantastic seeing such a large audience embrace the new material.
But it isn’t a Pendulum gig without the classics, and plenty of them were played. It was impossible to find someone who wasn’t singing along to Witchcraft, Watercolour, or even The Island Pt. I. Propane Nightmares was another massive moment of the night, as was the band’s remix of the ABC News Theme. I mean, where else are you going to see a circle pit for a remix of the news?
The night concluded with Tarantula, one of the most iconic tracks in the band’s catalogue. This rounded out a high-energy night with one of the most influential bands ever to come out of Australia. The crowd had such a fun energy throughout, with old fans and new fans coming together for a huge celebration of music. I even saw groups of punters making friends in the mosh and swapping contact details before heading for the exit.
If you ever get the chance to see Pendulum live, you should take it.
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