Live Review: AO LIVE – Peggy Gou @ John Cain Arena, Melbourne

The Australian Open‘s music program is the sole event of its kind held at a Grand Slam worldwide – and it just keeps getting bigger.

In their third year of curating AO LIVE (formerly AO Finals Festival), Naarm/Melbourne’s independent Untitled Group (best known for promoting Beyond The Valley) has expanded the series from three to five nights – and is booking ever buzzier acts such as The Kid LAROI, Reneé Rapp and Peggy Gou. In the meantime, the rival Live Nation has introduced a second music program, AO LIVE Opening Week, in the TOPCOURT precinct with the likes of Hot Chip. “The Happy Slam” may yet rival the Big Day Out, only with sport.

There is no doubt that this entertainment enhances the tournament’s summer carnival atmosphere as it attracts record-breaking crowds – and is beneficial to the music industry, even garnering academic interest. While the Australian Open is traditionally family-oriented, AO LIVE appeals to Gen Z – and influencers.

Still, in previous years, the concept has occasionally felt peripheral to the tennis. What makes a difference is the John Cain Arena’s retractable roof – AO LIVE most animate when open-air. For much of today’s party, the venue is plunged into unnatural darkness. But, towards the close of Gou’s set, the roof rolls back – and, though chilly, the vibe shifts.

The 2026 AO LIVE season launched on Wednesday with The Kid LAROI performing an epic concert – auspicious timing given the recent release of his album BEFORE I FORGET. This Men’s Final Day, AO LIVE boasts a partystarter in superstar DJ Peggy Gou, a tennis fan. Indeed, Gou went viral when earlier in the week she was spotted in Spanish champion Carlos Alcaraz’s box (in 2022, the DJ/producer shared a snap of herself with Novak Djokovic on Instagram). Gou isn’t exclusive to AO LIVE, having played Carriageworks in Eora/Sydney the prior evening.

Hailing from South Korea, Gou embarked on her music career in London as a fashion graduate, promptly relocating to Berlin. Promoting “K-house”, the DJ initially issued music in 2016 and, three years later, mixed a popular volume in the tastemaking DJ-KiCKS series. She first toured Australia in 2017 with a billing at Strawberry Fields and side-show at Boney – mere months after her Boiler Room premiere in New York.

In 2023, Gou savoured a breakout hit with the Eurodance (It Goes Like) Nanana – the lead single from her debut album I Hear You on XL Recordings, also signalling her official evolution into a vocalist and pop star. The following year she blitzed Glastonbury, bringing out Sophie Ellis-Bextor for a rendition of Murder On The Dancefloor. Gou last visited here late that year, headlining the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Naarm/Melbourne.

Gou has since been quiet on the release front, but in 2025, she contributed a track, DANCE, to the soundtrack accompanying the blockbuster F1 The Movie. The DJ rarely grants interviews, but she has achieved celebrity – and is a fashion icon. Astonishingly, she’s long managed herself.

The AO LIVE finale begins mid-afternoon Sunday with Eora/Sydney DJ Bryson Hill – who’s impressively forged a profile in the UK, unveiling an EP, Coastal Love, via Bristol label Shall Not Fade in 2024. Alas, many punters in the general admission area miss his set, as confusingly, they have to go out of their way to collect wristbands behind the arena. But Hill proffers slamming house with a stand-out in Spiller’s 2000 smash Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), coincidentally featuring Ellis-Bextor.

Next is the industrious Baby J. The Indonesian-Australian DJ/producer from Boorloo/Perth is established on the domestic festival circuit, latterly joining Spilt Milk – and last year played her inaugural Glastonbury. Baby J is a skilled, quick-mix DJ who favours a cross-section of on-trend club genres and throwbacks.

At AO LIVE, the rising star spins some classic R&B, mashing up Kelis‘ Neptunes collab Milkshake (as she did for November’s triple j mix) and, unexpectedly, dropping SWV’s 1992 New Jack Swing-era ballad Weak, a US chart-topper. She chops up Benny Benassi‘s grinding noughties electro Satisfaction and pulls out Robin S‘s enduring anthem Show Me Love. Baby J’s energy never wavers, yet crucially, she values tempo variation. She will be a worthy support for Harry Styles‘ Together, Together run.

The day’s penultimate act represents another coup for AO LIVE: South London’s Shygirl, who’s touring her own nightclub brand in Club Shy – ironically intended to be ‘underground’. The prolific DJ, singer and rapper is associated with the hyper-pop phenom, working alongside SOPHIE and Charli XCX (cue: the ravey 365, which she recreates).

Shygirl merited acclaim for 2022’s debut, Nymph, receiving a Mercury Prize nomination the year Ezra Collective won. She actually has the endorsement of pop royalty, serving as a guest selector on Beyoncé‘s RENAISSANCE tour in London. At AO LIVE, Shygirl performs as a two-piece with a second DJ, handling vocals. She showcases her own material, recreating numbers like the riotous F*Me from 2025’s EP Club Shy Room 2. If anything, the Club Shy experience is rooted in UK garage. But Shygirl might just be too cool for AO LIVE.

It is Gou who understands how to deliver in a stadium, taking to the decks at twilight – and sporting mysterious shades even in the darkened space. It helps that, as headliner, she has the full EDM arsenal of synchronised flame machines, CO2 jets, confetti canons and pyrotechnics. Fittingly, Gou also has bespoke tennis-themed 3D visuals.

An early peak arrives when Gou unleashes DJ Seinfeld‘s remix of Corona‘s ’90s Italian banger The Rhythm Of The Night. The DJ’s style has broadened over time and presently encompasses trance and hip-house. Gou has an abrupt transition after ATFC’s diva house Bad Habit with Lisa Millett, a Defected Records classic, but in DJ culture, vitality always overrides execution.

In Naarm/Melbourne, Gou doesn’t bring out special guests, but she does share surprises – one being Chris Lorenzo‘s remix of Cake‘s vintage alt-rock track Short Skirt/Long Jacket. There’s more rave nostalgia as Gou revisits Mylo‘s Drop The Pressure while giant tennis balls bounce into the crowd.

Gou’s set climaxes with an extended version of her dance-pop signature (It Goes Like) Nanana – which reached #15 on 2023’s triple j Hottest 100 and is certified platinum in Australia. She picks up the mic and thanks her fans before reviving Bob Sinclar‘s ’90s French house Gym Tonic (produced by Daft Punk‘s Thomas Bangalter and contentiously sampling Jane Fonda’s Workout video) as a burst of fireworks fills the now-open sky. Shygirl is seen wandering through the audience. It is just seven pm – but somehow it’s very characteristic of the playful Gou to leave everyone wanting more.