The Los Angeles bassist, producer, and vocalist brings his new album Distracted to Brisbane, Hobart, Sydney, and Melbourne across a week of shows.
Thundercat is coming back, announcing four Australian tour dates for May 2026, presented by Niche Productions and The Operatives. It’s his first run of shows here since the release of Distracted, his long-awaited follow-up to 2020’s It Is What It Is.
Distracted arrives six years after It Is What It Is, and it finds Thundercat processing grief, modern overload, and the fractured attention that defines this era. The record balances existential weight with his signature humour and warmth, folding jazz-fusion virtuosity, elastic funk, and late-night introspection into songs that feel like unfiltered inner monologues. Born Stephen Bruner, Thundercat grew up steeped in discipline and musicianship—his father was a drummer, his brother Ronald Bruner Jr. has played with Kamasi Washington and Snoop Dogg. Early years with metal band Suicidal Tendencies sharpened his structural sense before he emerged as a solo artist in the early 2010s.
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Albums like The Golden Age of Apocalypse and Apocalypse showcased his willingness to be vulnerable, but 2017’s Drunk, that was released fresh off his major contributions to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, crystallised him as a singular voice. Its emotional whiplash mirrored the fragmented way people consume music and life in the digital age. It Is What It Is slowed that pace down, sitting with grief and allowing space to feel. Distracted lives somewhere between those poles.
Onstage, Thundercat stretches songs, breaks the fourth wall, and leans into spontaneity and humour. These Australian shows promise moments of presence inside the noise, a rare chance to experience Distracted and more. ofThundercat’s work the way it was meant to be felt.
Thundercat tour dates
- Friday, 8 May: Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane
- Sunday, 10 May: Odeon Theatre, Hobart
- Wednesday, 13 May: Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
- Friday, 15 May: PICA, Melbourne
Speaking about Distracted, Thundercat’s message is disarmingly simple: “Just enjoy it and have fun and just know that the struggle is real and changes shape, but just to keep pushing forward.”
Thundercat is known for his unique style and technical brilliance, and these shows are opportunities to catch one of contemporary music’s most distinctive voices on home soil.
Presale sign-up opens Thursday 5 February at 10am and runs until Sunday 8 February at 5pm AEDT/local. General tickets are going on sale Tuesday 10 February at 10am AEDT/local.
Sign up for presale here.
