The Sydney Opera House has rarely felt more alive than it does during this year’s Vivid LIVE. Across the past week alone, Backseat Mafia has witnessed unforgettable appearances from Mitski, Folk Bitch Trio, Sparks and the formidable pairing of Earl Sweatshirt and MIKE. Yet tonight’s performance by Cass McCombs in the Joan Sutherland Theatre occupies a very different corner of the musical landscape. This is the rare opportunity to spend an evening in the company of an artist who has spent more than two decades quietly building one of independent music’s most singular catalogues.
Making his Vivid LIVE debut and returning to Sydney for the first time in over ten years, McCombs arrives with the kind of reputation that cannot be manufactured. Since emerging at the turn of the millennium, the Bay Area-born, New York-based songwriter has followed a path almost entirely of his own making. Across acclaimed albums such as Big Wheel and Others, Mangy Love and Tip of the Sphere, he has blended psychedelic folk, country soul, classic rock and deadpan humour into music that feels simultaneously timeless and elusive. While many of his contemporaries chased trends or algorithms, McCombs continued to make records that rewarded patience, curiosity and repeated listening.
In an era increasingly dominated by short attention spans, memes and endlessly scrolling feeds, last year’s double album Interior Live Oak stood almost in defiance of that culture. Expansive, deeply personal and uncompromising in its ambitions, the record reinforced McCombs’ reputation as an artist uninterested in simplifying his work for easy consumption.
On stage, McCombs is joined by drummer Austin Vaughn, bassist Brian Betancourt and guitarist Mike Bones, musicians who understand that the strength of this material lies not in spectacle but in atmosphere, texture and nuance.
McCombs’ legacy is not built on commercial milestones or headline-grabbing moments. Instead, it rests on something increasingly rare: consistency of vision. For more than twenty years he has remained committed to making music on his own terms, trusting listeners to meet him where he is rather than chasing them where they happen to be.
And with that, Backseat Mafia signs off from Vivid LIVE 2026. Thanks, and congratulations to everyone who helped transform the Sydney Opera House into one of the country’s most compelling musical destinations over the past week, and we look forward to doing it all again next year.
Images Deb Pelser
