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BBNO$, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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BBNO$
+ Jungle Bobby
@ The Hordern Pavilion,
Sydney,
31st October 2025
(Live Review)

Review by Celine May

Photos (2nd November) by Nathan Barwick (@cowbo_visuals)

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BBNO$, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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What happens when you combine Halloween with Baby No Money (BBNO$)? A chaotic night of costumes, high energy, and party antics at the Hordern Pavilion on Friday, October 31st.  The night embodied the spirit of bbno$: unserious, comedic, and all about having fun, dancing around, and not taking life seriously.

The night felt less like a concert and more like a party. The venue was a blur of costumes, from villains and Disney princesses to the wildly specific (Shrek characters, anime characters, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Teletubbies). If it was not Halloween, the sea of cosplay would still not come as a surprise; fans were reciprocating bbno$’s brand of absurdity, which often features the rapper introducing and promoting his songs through amusing, bold cosplay. The energy was manic from the moment the doors opened.

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JUNGLE BOBBY, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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The show kicked off at 8:30 pm with the opener, Jungle Bobby, dressed as a clown. The self-proclaimed love crusader was charismatic, unfiltered, and fun-loving with a hazy humour. His set was a mix of rap and pop dance tracks, including ‘Dope’ and ‘turn it all the way up’. The audience chanted for a shoey but he laughed it off, explaining he was sober after a bad accident, though he added “I still do LSD and shrooms though”. 

bbno$, real name Alex, took the stage at 9:30pm and proved he is a performer in his own right, beyond his meme-worthy online persona. He emerged in a pumpkin suit and progressively undressed as the night went on – revealing a shark costume, then finally to his signature casual look of a white singlet and black shorts. “Take it off” was a recurring chant. He served up an engaging, fun 1.5-hour show of music and heavy fan interaction and story telling. His opening track was the indulgent “IT Boy” with key, repetitive lyrics: “I’m the gen z Eminem” followed by siracha, nursery and yessir. 

bbno$’s music blends hip-hop, R&B, and electronic influences into catchy mixes, with a fair bit of dubstep moments. His setlist consisted of viral hits (lalala, 1800), older tracks (c’est la vie), collaborations (edamame, who dat boi), and songs from his brand new album (released just two weeks prior), showing the crowd was well-versed. He notably performed Gigolo live for the first time, which the crowd lapped up.

Iconically, he brought out our Australian Eurovision representative, Gojo, to perform his song milkshake man.

At some points, bbno$ slowed the pace and changed the mood with heartbreak songs including help herself and meant to be, momentarily dropping the antics to stand in one spot with a mic stand, demonstrating the unexpected emotional depth in his music.

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BBNO$, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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I loved that many of the tracks unexpectedly yet seamlessly transitioned into dubstep and were met with strobe lights, giving an EDM experience feel. It was a nice little taste of a rave, for someone who doesn’t rave. 

bbno$ made the most of the stage, consistently moving across to give equal attention to all parts of the crowd. His performance was amplified by various, skilfully crafted background stage visuals. They ranged from stick figures, doodles and animations to his music videos, lyrics, raw footage-like clips, and early 2000s pixelations, hinting that he is quite chronically online.

A significant portion of the show, roughly 30 minutes all up – was dedicated to light hearted, humorous and sincere conversations in between songs. This unfiltered talk helped build an intimate connection with fans, though some people might find this off-putting and would prefer back to back music. Don’t expect to go to bbno$ show and not expect yapping! He shared personal anecdotes such as his pride in his sister’s university graduation and his own Kinesiology degree and the importance of exercise, before launching into “Pump It”, which he confessed he “barely knows the words” to. He also recounted wild moments like a woman offering him a ridiculous amount of money to sleep with him, which he believes his song manifested. However a big part of crowd engagement was the repeated expression of love and gratitude for Australia and Australian fans.

I loved the storytelling and the way bbno$ found ways to interestingly hint and transition into the next songs. Before performing hot topic, he amusingly displayed a screenshot of Hot Topic’s DM to him on the background screen, and asked for our support in securing a collaboration with Hot Topic. He introduced Mathematics by asking the crowd to answer actual addition problems, which the audience quickly and correctly calculated. He transitioned into check by talking about making notes and check lists. And towards the end, he slyly transitioned into his viral hit LALALA by joking that he would freestyle, then acting as if he failed and trailing off with a literal “lalalala”.

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BBNO$, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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A key element of the show is his cookbook tradition, in which he melodically reads an ingredient list, and evidently gives away the book at every show. Later in the show, he circled back and awarded it to a fan who shared a personal story with bbno$ at an earlier meet & greet, about the impact bbno$ had on him, turning a fun gimmick into a wholesome moment.

The crowd asked bbno$ to do a shoey, to which he responded that he was sober, a statement that was met with cheers by the audience. Instead, he did a shoey with water.

Underneath the fun of it all, the atmosphere was underpinned by love and sincerity. Alex shared that the sold-out show, which sold out in a remarkable 6 hours, was the biggest show he’s played in his career. He constantly vocalised that he loved every single person in the crowd, and noted that Australians are similar to Canadians, making Sydney feel like his “second home”.

Jungle Bobby later rejoined bbno$ and they performed several concluding tracks together, including two, take a trip, eat slay love, and pogo. Unfortunately, I can’t say Jungle Bobby was friendly for those under 18. I felt his speeches and behaviour were quite inappropriate at times – he spoke about drugs fondly, and explicitly encouraged the crowd to yell, swear and raise their middle fingers. This felt too loose and like a step too far. 

Although it went without an encore, the concert wrapped up on a high. Overall, it was a chaotically fun night where a community of chronically online people came together to party!

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BBNO$, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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Check out Nathan Barwick’s (@cowbo_visuals) full gallery of the 2nd November show HERE

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BBNO$, 2nd November 2025 / Photo – @cowbo_visuals

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Follow BBNO$
23 Profile – YouTube – Twitter
Instagram – TikTok

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Press Release 17th October 2025 (below) HERE

BBNO$
releases his self-titled
ninth studio album

BUY/STREAM: BBNO$ LP

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AMNPLIFY – DB