After some 18 years, TISM are well and truly back. The legendary, anonymous synth-punk septet announced their reunion earlier this year when they were revealed as part of the lineup for this year’s edition of Good Things festival, and in September simultaneously released a trio of retrospective albums.
Over the weekend, the band played their first show in almost two decades; a secret hometown gig at the Croxton Bandroom in Melbourne on Saturday night (12th November). News of the onstage reunion spread like wildfire in the hours leading up to the gig but there was little warning otherwise; they were billed as “Open Mic Tryouts” on the list of set times posted at the show.
Watch TISM Take the Stage at the Croxton
The band kicked off their set with ‘The Art/Income Dialectic’, a primarily spoken word cut from their debut single, 1986’s ‘Defecate on My Face’. That led into ‘I Drive a Truck’, lifted from the band’s 1988 debut album Great Truckin’ Songs of the Renaissance.
Other songs on the setlist included favourites like ‘Whatareya?’, ‘Greg! The Stop Sign!!’, ‘Saturday Night Palsy’ and ‘Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me’, plus deeper cuts like ‘Death Death Death Amway Amway Amway’. It’s unclear at this stage whether the reunion was a one-off or if there are more headline shows to come.
Your best bet at catching TISM if you missed out on the weekend will be attending Good Things next month, where they’ll share stages with the likes of Bring Me the Horizon, Deftones, NOFX, The Amity Affliction, Cosmic Psychos, Regurgitator and more.
The festival run kicks off Friday, 2nd December at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, continues at Sydney’s Centennial Park the next day and wraps up Sunday, 4th December at Brisbane Showgrounds. Tickets are on sale now.
See More Footage From TISM’s Croxton Bandroom Show
Further Reading
“I Want As Many People to See Me Die On Stage As Possible” – A Chaotic Interview with TISM
TISM Share Scott Morrison’s ‘Real’ Concession Speech In New Missive
