Live Review: RÜFÜS DU SOL @ Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

The effortlessly cool SG Lewis gets the crowd in motion early on with his sleek, disco-infused set with warm synths and deep-house grooves woven into a hypnotic flow at a rhythmic pace.

“It’s so great to be here. Melbourne is my favourite Australian city!” He shouts out to the audience who have come early to see his set. He moves around the stage with swagger in his suit and tie, alternating between live guitars and a sound system full of electronic equipment to get us grooving along.

UK singer RAHH joins him on stage to lend her powerhouse live vocals for a few tracks, including Transition, Sunsets Pt. 2, Sugar, Fever Dreamer and Heat. Together, they give a glowing performance that’s just the right amount of gradual build-up to get us ready for the main act.

The lights drop and smoke engulfs the stage as the opening notes of Inhale ripple across the arena. RÜFÜS DU SOL appear in silhouette as the trio, including Tyrone Lindqvist, Jon George, and James Hunt, instantly locking the crowd into a hypnotic state.

“We’re gonna make sure every single one of you is standing up by the end of the night,” shouts Lindqvist. It’s evident that it won’t take much effort, as by the second song, nearly the entire arena is up on their feet dancing.

They take us on a perfectly curated journey with a continuous mix of their vast catalogue, with each transition feeling seamless and carefully built from meditative stillness to full-bodied euphoria.

Early tracks like Lately and Breathe set a deep groove before the crowd erupts for You Were Right and Sundream. Hunt’s live drumming adds visceral punch, while Lindqvist’s aching vocals float like smoke above George’s rich synth layers and keyboard notes.

Every element of production is fine-tuned with crisp sound, seamless mixing, and stunning lighting. The LED panels behind the trio pulsed in sync with every micro-beat, creating a visual symphony to match the sonic one. The spectacular laser light show is mesmerising and makes the arena feel otherworldly. 

By On My Knees, the arena becomes one beating organism with bodies all moving with synchronicity, strobe lights slice through the air, and bass vibrates through the floor. Pressure raises it higher still, lasers fanning out in sync with every drop. Desert Night and Edge Of The Earth bring a shifting calm with cinematic intensity.

“We’ve been on the road for about a year now, and we have really interesting memories about our early days in Melbourne, like 15 years ago, playing to 50 people, then 100 people. But at that point, we would have never imagined playing 3 nights at Rod Laver Arena,” says Hunt.

The middle of the set glows with light and depth. Levitating and Next to Me carry soaring synths and a pulse that creates an almost meditative feeling. Surrender is a euphoric moment in the set as they sing “Shower me in love,” and the heavens above open up with confetti shooting out over the crowd like rain falling from the sky. We lose ourselves in the moment and forget where we are for a moment.

Exhale from their latest release Inhale/Exhale, hit with strong basslines and a darker, more mature edge, while Fire/Desire and Underwater take things further, their visuals turning the arena into a sea of blue and red light as the audience moves like waves in the shadows.

When Alive and Always land, smiles stretch across every face in the room. New York shimmers with melancholy, and Treat You Better wraps the crowd in warmth as the arena lights up with a sea of shimmering phone torches.

And then the pivotal moment we are all waiting for arrives with Innerbloom. It’s almost ten minutes of slow-building perfection with every lyric echoing back from thousands of voices, lights swirling like galaxies overhead. It’s a moment of emotional exhale that leaves the entire arena still in the final note’s afterglow.

The encore brings pure release, starting with Break My Love, starting as a heartbeat and blossoms into movement. No Place ignites the crowd with nostalgia and elation. By the final track, Music is Better, the trio turns the arena into a joyous festival filled with hands high, lights pulsing, and everyone dancing together. 

“We have such fond memories playing in Melbourne. I never take it for granted that we are still here 15 years later after starting this band. A lot of our favourite bands haven't lasted that long. And so, we owe a lot to you beautiful people for buying tickets to our shows and sharing our music with each other,” Lindqvist expresses with deep gratitude.

The first of three sold-out RÜFÜS DU SOL Melbourne shows proves that they remain masters of turning electronic soundscapes into communal, deeply human experiences that can move both body and soul. Their euphoric homecoming unites electronic music fans on a large scale and turns the arena’s dance floor into a dreamscape where music, visuals and emotion fuse together seamlessly for a moment of collective transcendence.