LIVE REVIEW: TASH SULTANA + SOUTH SUMMIT + BEN SWISSA @ THE FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL 01/10/25
Words by Cecilia Pattison-LeviThe back quarter of the year started last night with 1 October 2025 ringing in our ears. The Fortitude Valley Music Hall was the host for an evening of alternative rock with Tash Sultana bringing her ‘Return To The Roots’ Tour with South Summit and Ben Swissa along for the ride.
Tash Sultana kicked off 2025 with undeniable force with huge tours of their ‘Return To The Roots’ in the U.S. and a headlining Latin American tour before returning to Australia. However, the year has been problematic for Tash Sultana, and they confessed to the crowd that 2025 has been the hardest year in their life with their wife’s cancer diagnosis, the death of their grandfather, the deaths of their three dogs (snake bites and cancer), a “maybe” controversial AFL Grand Final performance, and then performance anxiety before this gig that saw them crying and delaying the start of their set by 25 minutes as Tash Sultana tried to keep it together. “I’d never cancel these shows,” she declared to the crowd.
However, the evening started with a stripped back performance from Sydney based musician Ben Swissa and his drummer, Matt. Ben Swissa brought his own captivating energy, blending smooth pop vocals with raw and powerful production to the Music Hall stage that’s seen him emerge as one to watch on the national scene.
Ben Swissa has style with his black leather look and fabulous hair. He also has those pop-rock melodies with his synth patches, great guitar work, live drummer, and that The Weeknd referencing happening. But I couldn’t help thinking that he's got the full 1980s Lenny Kravitz – Prince pastiche going on. Ben Swissa shared a selection of bright retro-pop songs such as opener ‘Superficial’ before he delivered a vocal warm up and a cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ in a register that we could all sing along with.
Ben Swissa, then, performed some original songs ‘Angel’, big party vibes on ‘Hush’ and the last song in his short set was ‘Pink Lemonade’. His music was brimming with melodic songs. He explained how he won a busking competition when he was 17 years old when he first met Tash Sultana. He seems to have picked up a few tricks – the biggest one being how to play guitar, even behind his head while controlling other instruments, and do it with class. Ben Swissa’s guitar work was great.
Well, Perth might be one of the most remote capital cities in Australia, but the WA music scene is having its moment, and the quality of the musicians coming out of that state is huge. Perth-based band South Summit have quickly made a name for themselves with their eclectic sound, weaving together indie, alt-rock, and reggae influences with heartfelt storytelling and magnetic stage presence. There was no artifice here: it was all no fuss and straight down to business as South Summit brought the reggae with ‘River Days’.
The five-piece band comprising of Isaiah "Zaya" Reuben (lead vocals), Nehemiah "Nemo" Reuben (rhythm guitar, vocals), Fynn Samorali (lead guitar), Josh Trindall (bass), and Nathan Osborne (drums) delivered an outstanding short set that showed off their signature sound. South Summit’s cover of The Police’s ‘Roxanne’ really gave a shout out to their influences.
South Summit played a mix of new songs like ‘We Are’ and ‘Top Of The Hill’ as well as letting the crowd know that a second album is on the way. The band moved seamlessly through the different rock styles of reggae aesthetic, hip-hop, psych rock, indie music and even hints of grunge in some places. The performance of Fynn Samorli on lead guitar was just a revelation. He was so good, and his melodic guitar riffs and solos were so impressive. It is his distinctive sound that was driving South Summit’s high-energy and musically diverse approach to delivering live music.
I am not sure how I have missed seeing Tash Sultana live, but I have. So, I was eager to get the night underway as we waited, and waited, for Tash Sultana to appear. I am not sure I was ready for what I was about to witness either. Tash Sultana did have a band: a drummer and a synth player. But when they did take to the stage, it was dazzling.
The Fortitude Valley Music Hall was pretty packed out but still comfortable for this performance. The crowd was mostly young, and there was a lot of pot smoking. Tash Sultana played for a total of two hours without much of a break. She performed tracks from her latest Extended Player (EP) ‘Return To The Roots’ that has more synths than her previous work but did not lack from churning through 10 guitars to get the sound right.
Tash Sultana is an idiosyncratic Australian singer-songwriter who can play everything, I think. She played acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, trumpet, pan flute, synths, drum pads, loops, effects pedals, and even more equipment that I wish I could have got a closer look at. She even used an octaver that sounded so good on her voice and guitar.
By way of background, Tash Sultana is an ARIA Award-Winning musician who came out of the busking world in Melbourne. In under 10 years, she has gone from street busker to major headliner, accruing multi-billion streams along the way. However, while she is astonishing live – like mind blowingly skilled at playing instruments - the power of Tash Sultana lies in her songwriting and the way she constructs her music one instrument at a time.
Tash Sultana’s performance was astonishing! They kicked off the set with ‘Unleash the Rage’ while playing guitars, trumpet, or both together. She followed up with mesmerising midtempo ‘Kiss the Sky’ and the terrific soundscape of the self-reflective ‘Hazard to Myself’.
Tash Sultana was a force of nature as she played flute, guitar, synths, and drum before taking up the saxophone and running between stage rises as she delivered ‘Greed’, before the hip-hop lines of “push-back to life in the fast lane” in ‘Milk & Honey’. There was a lot of live looping and improvising. But from the front, it was obvious not all was right. It looked like they had their brave face on, even when they were jumping, spinning, and playing bass to drive the bassline rhythms, they looked pained. The crowd probably didn’t notice, as they were really into the performance that was part rave, part concert, and part one-person show.
It was easy to get in a trance while listening to the songs like ‘Mystik’, the melodic ‘Notion’ and the fan favourite ‘Jungle’ that had a guitar breakdown you just had to see and hear. Tash Sultana has brought prog rock back. And I was amazed to see it! The laser lights, the 10,000 instruments not just performed well but brilliantly, and the noodling. The music was wrapped in reggae, hip-hop, R&B, alternative rock, and pop. At some point, I got lost in which song I was listening to, and some of them blurred into one another.
Tash Sultana did stop for a rest to explain their bad year, but I hate to tell them, it’s just life as you get older. They had become quite emotional again as they asked for patience to see if they could deliver ‘Pink Moon’ as they dedicated the song to the recently deceased dog Marley. And, the song was delivered, with real class. Before the evening started to wind up, with ‘Crop Circles’ and the last song on the new EP, a reimagined version of ‘Ain't It Kinda Funny’. The saxophone made a reappearance as I could hear Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’ referenced in the mix.
It was now well after 11pm. The poor guy next to me had a four-hour drive back to Hervey Bay, and the encore of ‘Coma’ and ‘Blackbird’ hadn’t even started. I hope he made it and got to work at 7pm.
It was an amazing night of huge indie-rock songs with real 1970s flavours. The Police, Elton John, Gerry Rafferty, The 1975, Bob Marley and the Wailers were all reference points. But it was Tash Sultana’s songs and angelic yet powerful voice with top-notch acumen on assorted instruments, including all those guitars, that offered the crowd a rich tapestry of sound.
Tash Sultana’s music is just so complex and layered. It’s amazing to see it live. Just outstanding!
