Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027

Cold Chisel have not announced any concerts in Australia or New Zealand for 2027. As of 9 October 2026 there is no tour, festival appearance or one-off show on the calendar, and no new studio album has been announced to follow Blood Moon (2019).

The Adelaide band's most recent run was The Big Five-O Live, the fiftieth-anniversary tour announced on 29 May 2024. It opened in Armidale on 5 October 2024, crossed the country through October and November, and ended in New Zealand in January 2025. A recording of the tour was released on 8 August 2025.

This page explains what is and is not known about Cold Chisel's plans and gives a detailed history of their concerts at home and across the Tasman, from the Last Stand shows of 1983 to the reunion tours of 2011, 2015, 2019-20 and 2024-25, along with the songs that fill a Cold Chisel set.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: what is announced so far

There is no official information about Cold Chisel concerts in 2027. The Big Five-O Live tour played its last Australian show at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Wednesday 4 December 2024, and the setlist archive shows three New Zealand dates in January 2025: Gibbston Valley near Queenstown on 18 January, Riverside Park in Taupō on 25 January and Whitianga Waterways on Sunday 26 January 2025. Nothing has been announced since.

Cold Chisel have never toured on a fixed cycle. Since the 1997 reunion they have come back in bursts: The Last Wave of Summer in 1998, the Ringside Tour in 2003, a one-off show at Stadium Australia in December 2009, the Light the Nitro Tour of 2011-12, the One Night Stand tour of 2015, the Blood Moon tour over the 2019-20 summer and the Big Five-O run in 2024-25. Gaps of three to five years between tours are normal for the band.

The band's circle also suffered a loss in 2026: saxophonist Andy Bickers died from cancer on 10 July 2026. Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss and Don Walker each have separate careers, and none of the members has said publicly that a new Cold Chisel tour is planned for 2027.

Until there is an official announcement, treat any list of 2027 Cold Chisel dates, any 'presale code' and any ticket listing for 2027 with suspicion. If the band confirm concerts in Australia or New Zealand, this page will be updated with the dates, venues and sale details.

Before the Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: Australia/NZ concert history

Cold Chisel built their reputation in the pubs and halls of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in the 1970s, and by the early 1980s they were, in Ed Nimmervoll's words, the undisputed number one rock band in Australia. To launch Circus Animals in 1982 they played under a circus tent at Wentworth Park in Sydney, and a show in Darwin that year drew more than ten per cent of the city's population. The setlist archive also records a long New Zealand tour in January 1982, from Hamilton's Civic Centre on Tuesday 19 January through Tauranga, Napier, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch, and a second visit in late July and August 1982.

The Last Stand farewell tour began in October 1983 after a New Zealand leg that the archive places at the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland on 20 September, the Winter Show Buildings in Wellington, Christchurch Town Hall and the Dunedin Town Hall on 24 September 1983. The final shows were four nights at the Sydney Entertainment Centre from 12 to 15 December 1983, ten years after the band's first performance as Cold Chisel in Adelaide. Those concerts became the film The Last Stand, the biggest-selling cinema-released concert documentary by an Australian band up to that time.

After the 1997 reunion and the 1998 national tour, the most famous comeback show came on Saturday 5 December 2009, when Cold Chisel played the Sydney 500 V8 Supercars event at Stadium Australia to more than 45,000 people, the largest crowd of their career. In October 2010 they played the Deniliquin Ute Muster, their only live show that year. The Light the Nitro Tour followed in 2011 with Charley Drayton on drums after Steve Prestwich's death: thirty dates announced in July 2011, opening at Newcastle Panthers on Thursday 13 October 2011 and taking in Townsville, Cairns, Darwin, Mackay, Rockhampton, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Mudgee, Tamworth, Allphones Arena in Sydney, Canberra, Hobart, Rod Laver Arena, four nights at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and New Zealand arena shows in Wellington and at Vector Arena in Auckland on 3 December 2011.

The 2012 dates for No Plans included the Byron Bay Bluesfest site on Thursday 5 April, Sandalford Winery in the Swan Valley, the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney and Festival Hall in Melbourne on 19 April 2012. The One Night Stand tour of late 2015 started at Deniliquin on Friday 2 October and went to Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast, Pine Rivers Park, Cairns, Townsville, the Gardens Amphitheatre in Darwin, Geraldton, Perth Arena, Adelaide, Rod Laver Arena, Hanging Rock, Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley, Wollongong and three nights at the Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney, ending on Friday 18 December 2015, with New Zealand shows in Christchurch and at Villa Maria Estate in Auckland in between.

The Blood Moon tour was a summer of outdoor shows. After a warm-up at the Factory Theatre in Sydney on Saturday 28 December 2019, the band played Fremantle Park on New Year's Eve, Barnard Park in Busselton on New Year's Day, Glenelg Beach in Adelaide, Rochford Winery, Mount Duneed Estate near Geelong, Hope Estate, Scully Park in Tamworth, Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta, Stuart Park in Wollongong, Stage 88 in Canberra, Orange and two nights at Sirromet Winery at Mount Cotton, the last on Sunday 9 February 2020.

The Big Five-O Live tour began with a warm-up at Anita's Theatre in Wollongong on Wednesday 2 October 2024 and the official opener at Petersons Winery in Armidale on Saturday 5 October. It included two nights at the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney, two at Sandalford Winery in Perth, two at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, two at Victoria Park in Brisbane plus the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, Ballarat, Mornington, Hobart, the Adelaide Parklands circuit, two nights at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Stage 88 in Canberra, Roche Estate in Pokolbin and two nights at Qudos Bank Arena, before the New Zealand finale in January 2025.

The table below lists 132 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Cold Chisel between 1979 and 2025, with the most shows in Sydney (13), Melbourne (9), Adelaide (9), Brisbane (6), Auckland (6), Christchurch (6). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.

Concert data: setlist.fm

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027 setlist: the songs played most often in Australia and New Zealand

Across the 15 most recent documented Australia/NZ concerts with a full song list (3 November 2024 to 26 January 2025), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.

1. All for You — played at 15 of 15 shows
2. Bow River — played at 15 of 15 shows
3. Cheap Wine — played at 15 of 15 shows
4. Choirgirl — played at 15 of 15 shows
5. Flame Trees — played at 15 of 15 shows
6. Forever Now — played at 15 of 15 shows
7. Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye) — played at 15 of 15 shows
8. Khe Sanh — played at 15 of 15 shows
9. Letter to Alan — played at 15 of 15 shows
10. Merry-Go-Round — played at 15 of 15 shows
11. My Baby — played at 15 of 15 shows
12. Rising Sun — played at 15 of 15 shows
13. Saturday Night — played at 15 of 15 shows
14. Shipping Steel — played at 15 of 15 shows

Before the Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: past Australia/NZ tours at a glance

• The Big Five-0 (2024–2025): 26 Australia/NZ shows — Armidale, Gold Coast, Sydney, Wollongong, Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Newcastle, Ballarat, Mornington, Hobart, Adelaide….
• Blood Moon Tour (2019–2020): 15 Australia/NZ shows — Sydney, Fremantle, Busselton, Adelaide, Coldstream, Geelong, Pokolbin, Tamworth, Parramatta, Wollongong, Canberra, Orange….
• One Night Stand (2015): 18 Australia/NZ shows — Deniliquin, Gold Coast, Strathpine, Cairns, Townsville, Darwin, Geraldton, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Newham, Christchurch….
• No Plans (2012): 1 Australia/NZ show — Perth.
• Light The Nitro Tour (2011): 36 Australia/NZ shows — Newcastle, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bokarina, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Coffs Harbour, Mudgee, Tamworth….
• Last Stand (1983): 4 Australia/NZ shows — Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin.
• Circus Animals (1982): 16 Australia/NZ shows — Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier, Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hastings, Auckland.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027 and Australia/NZ festivals

Cold Chisel are not a band of the alternative festival circuit, but they have played several of Australia's big country and roots events. The setlist archive shows two appearances at the Deniliquin festival site, on Saturday 2 October 2010, which Wikipedia identifies as the Deniliquin Ute Muster, and on Friday 2 October 2015, the opening night of the One Night Stand tour. They played the Byron Bay Bluesfest site at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm on 5 April 2012.

In Adelaide the band have played the CBC Oval Concert Stage on 1 March 2015 and 2 March 2018. Their biggest single-event show remains the Sydney 500 V8 Supercars concert at Stadium Australia on 5 December 2009. In New Zealand, early visits included outdoor festival-style shows in January 1981 and January 1982 recorded in the archive at Ray Little's Farm in Ngāruawāhia and at a festival farm in Pukekawa.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: career and records

Cold Chisel formed in Adelaide in 1973, first as a heavy metal band called Orange, with Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker on piano. A seventeen-year-old Jimmy Barnes joined as singer in December 1973 and Phil Small took over on bass in 1975. The name came from an early Walker song. After stints in Melbourne the band settled in Sydney in 1977 and signed to Warner Music Group.

Their self-titled debut (1978) contained 'Khe Sanh', which commercial radio refused to play but which became their signature song; APRA ranked it eighth among the best Australian songs of all time in 2001. Breakfast at Sweethearts (1979) reached No. 4, East (1980) reached No. 2 with 'Cheap Wine' and 'Choirgirl', and the double live album Swingshift (1981) debuted at No. 1. Circus Animals (1982), with 'You Got Nothing I Want', 'Bow River', 'Forever Now' and 'When the War Is Over', went to No. 1 in Australia and New Zealand.

Attempts to break the United States in 1981 and Germany in 1983 went badly, tensions grew, and after Barnes quit in August 1983 the band split, recording a last album, Twentieth Century (1984), with 'Saturday Night' and 'Flame Trees'. Barnes went on to a solo career with nine Australian number-one studio albums, and Moss's Matchbook (1989) and 'Tucker's Daughter' both went to No. 1. The band were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1993.

The reunion of October 1997 produced The Last Wave of Summer (1998), another No. 1. Kaczmarek died in 2008 and Prestwich in January 2011, after which Charley Drayton joined on drums. No Plans (2012) and The Perfect Crime (2015) both reached No. 2, and Blood Moon (2019) debuted at No. 1. The band have six number-one albums on the ARIA Charts, the latest being the 2024 compilation 50 Years – The Best Of, and in 2021 a lane in central Adelaide near their 1970s residency was named Cold Chisel Lane.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: a band that belongs to Australia

Wikipedia notes that Cold Chisel's popularity is almost entirely confined to Australia and New Zealand, and that their songs about distinctly Australian experiences are often cited as the reason. 'Saturday Night' and 'Breakfast at Sweethearts' describe Kings Cross, 'Star Hotel' was inspired by the Star Hotel riot in Newcastle, and 'Flame Trees' was lyrically inspired by Don Walker's home town of Grafton.

That local focus is exactly why the band's tours sell so strongly at home. Most shows on the Light the Nitro Tour sold out within days and extra dates were added for early 2012, and the 1998 reunion tour, according to Wikipedia, sold out almost immediately.

It also explains why the touring map looks the way it does: few overseas dates, but deep coverage of Australia, including towns such as Geraldton, Busselton, Mudgee, Tamworth and Armidale that many international acts never visit.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: the Sydney nights

Sydney has been the scene of the band's biggest moments. The four Last Stand shows at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in December 1983 ended the original run; the 2009 Stadium Australia concert drew more than 45,000 people; and both the One Night Stand and Big Five-O tours ended with multi-night stands at the city's indoor arenas.

The arena at Sydney Olympic Park appears under different names in the archive: Allphones Arena in November 2011 and Qudos Bank Arena in November and December 2024. The Qantas Credit Union Arena, where the band played three nights in December 2015, was the name at that time of the former Sydney Entertainment Centre, the venue of the 1983 Last Stand shows.

Smaller Sydney rooms have been used for warm-ups, including the Enmore Theatre in February 2018 and the Factory Theatre in December 2019.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: New Zealand and the Tasman

New Zealand has been part of Cold Chisel's story since the early 1980s. Circus Animals and 'Forever Now' were bigger in New Zealand than almost anywhere outside Australia: the album reached No. 1 there and the single reached No. 2. The setlist archive lists around twenty New Zealand dates in 1982 alone.

Since the reunion, New Zealand visits have been shorter: Wellington and Auckland on the Light the Nitro Tour in December 2011, Christchurch and Auckland in December 2015, Tauranga in February 2020, and three summer shows in Gibbston Valley, Taupō and Whitianga in January 2025.

No New Zealand dates are announced for 2027.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: the warm-up tradition

Cold Chisel have a long habit of playing small warm-up shows before big tours, sometimes under the pseudonym the Barking Spiders, a name later used for the live album The Barking Spiders Live: 1983. The recent pattern is visible in the archive: Anita's Theatre in Wollongong three days before the 2024 opener in Armidale, and the Factory Theatre in Sydney just before the Blood Moon summer run.

Fans watch for such shows because they usually signal that a larger tour is close. Nothing of the kind has been announced as of 9 October 2026.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: what to expect live

Cold Chisel concerts run long. The Big Five-O shows of 2024 had 23 to 25 songs, the Blood Moon summer shows up to 27, and the Sydney arena nights of December 2015 up to 31. Jimmy Barnes and Ian Moss share lead vocals, Don Walker leads from the piano, and the band is known as one of the best live acts in Australian history.

The setlist barely changes at its core: 'Standing on the Outside' has opened most recent shows, followed by songs such as 'Letter to Alan', 'Cheap Wine', 'Rising Sun', 'My Baby', 'Choirgirl', 'Forever Now' and 'Four Walls'. The run of 'You Got Nothing I Want', 'Merry-Go-Round', 'Flame Trees', 'Khe Sanh' and 'Bow River' forms the climax most nights.

Encores usually include 'Saturday Night', 'Breakfast at Sweethearts', 'Shipping Steel', 'Taipan', 'When the War Is Over' and 'Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)', which closed the final Qudos Bank Arena show on 4 December 2024. 'My Baby', written by bassist Phil Small for East, is a fixture in the first half of the set.

Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027 tickets and presales

There are no Cold Chisel tickets on sale for Australia or New Zealand in 2027, because no concerts have been announced as of 9 October 2026. Any site selling seats or a 'presale code' for 2027 shows is not official.

When the band announced The Big Five-O Live in May 2024, tickets were sold through official outlets and venue box offices, and extra shows were added as demand grew. If 2027 dates are announced, buy only from the seller named in the official announcement and expect mobile tickets in the buyer's name.

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Cold Chisel Australia Tour 2027: questions and answers

Is Cold Chisel touring Australia in 2027?

No dates have been announced as of 9 October 2026.

When did Cold Chisel last play in Australia?

At Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Wednesday 4 December 2024, the last Australian night of The Big Five-O Live.

When did Cold Chisel last play in New Zealand?

At Whitianga Waterways on Sunday 26 January 2025, after shows in Gibbston Valley and Taupō.

What was The Big Five-O Live?

The 50th anniversary tour announced on 29 May 2024. It began in Armidale on 5 October 2024 and ended in New Zealand in January 2025.

What is Cold Chisel's biggest concert?

The Sydney 500 V8 Supercars show at Stadium Australia on 5 December 2009, with more than 45,000 people.

Who sings in Cold Chisel?

Jimmy Barnes is the main singer, with guitarist Ian Moss also singing lead on several songs.

What is the latest Cold Chisel album?

The latest studio album is Blood Moon (2019), which debuted at No. 1. The compilation 50 Years – The Best Of (2024) also reached No. 1.

How long is a Cold Chisel concert?

Recent shows have had 23 to 27 songs, usually ending with 'Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)' or a similar encore.

Is there a Cold Chisel presale code for 2027?

No. With no concerts announced, there is no presale. Any code offered now should be treated as fake.