Empire of the Sun bring the Ask That God era home to finish it. The Ask That God: Afterlife Tour plays six shows in February and March 2027, opening at Spark Arena in Auckland on Friday 19 February and closing at RAC Arena in Perth on Saturday 6 March.
In between come the Riverstage in Brisbane on Sunday 21 February, Afterpay Arena in Sydney on Thursday 25 February, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on Saturday 27 February and the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday 2 March. It is a mix of arenas and two of the country's best-known outdoor stages, one show per city.
The world tour behind Ask That God, the duo's fourth album, began in Australia in October 2024; according to Wikipedia it is set to conclude in Australia in March 2027, which is exactly where this run ends. Pre-sales ran on 16 and 17 September 2026, and tickets have been on general sale since Friday 18 September 2026.
New Zealand goes first. Spark Arena in Auckland, opened in 2007 as Vector Arena, hosts the opening night on Friday 19 February 2027. It is the only New Zealand show; Christchurch, which saw the band at Hagley Park in February 2025, and Wellington are not on the schedule.
The Australian leg starts outdoors at the Riverstage in Brisbane's City Botanic Gardens on Sunday 21 February. That is a return: the band played the same stage in January 2017 and again on 29 October 2024 on the first Australian leg of the Ask That God Tour. Sydney follows on Thursday 25 February at Afterpay Arena in Sydney Olympic Park, a step up from the Hordern Pavilion, where they played in October 2024.
Melbourne gets the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Saturday 27 February, again a venue the duo know from 26 October 2024. Adelaide, which did not get a headline show in 2024, has the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday 2 March. Perth closes the tour on Saturday 6 March at RAC Arena; in 2024 the band played the open-air Red Hill Auditorium outside the city.
There is one show per city and no second nights had been announced as of 9 October 2026. No support act is listed in the tour data. Hobart, Canberra, the Gold Coast and regional cities are not on the schedule.
Auckland's main indoor arena opened on 24 March 2007 in Quay Park, near the Britomart Transport Centre, and was called Vector Arena until 2017. It holds about 13,280 for concerts.
An open-air venue in Brisbane's City Botanic Gardens, officially opened on 7 September 1989 and inspired by a temporary stage from Expo '88. It holds about 9,500 people.
Opened in 1999 at Sydney Olympic Park for the 2000 Olympics as the Sydney SuperDome, it was later Acer Arena, Allphones Arena and Qudos Bank Arena before becoming Afterpay Arena in July 2026. It is the largest permanent indoor entertainment venue in Australia, with up to about 21,000 places.
An outdoor amphitheatre in the Kings Domain, opened in 1959 and inspired by the Hollywood Bowl. Its cable-supported canopy and lawns hold up to around 10,000 people, and it is on the Australian National Heritage List.
Opened on 20 July 1991 on Port Road in Hindmarsh, north-west of the city centre, and redeveloped in 2010. With a capacity of about 11,300 it is the largest auditorium in South Australia.
Perth Arena opened on 10 November 2012 on Wellington Street in the city centre and has traded as RAC Arena under a naming-rights deal. It holds about 15,500 people.
Friday 19 February 2027 — Spark Arena, Auckland. The tour starts here.
Sunday 21 February 2027 — Riverstage, Brisbane. Their previous show at this venue was on 29 October 2024, on the Ask That God Tour.
Thursday 25 February 2027 — Afterpay Arena, Sydney. In Sydney, the last documented Empire of the Sun concert was at Hordern Pavilion (24 October 2024).
Saturday 27 February 2027 — Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne. Their previous show at this venue was on 26 October 2024.
Tuesday 2 March 2027 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide. Their most recent documented Adelaide show was at CBC Oval Concert Stage on 1 March 2014.
Saturday 6 March 2027 — RAC Arena, Perth. In Perth, the last documented Empire of the Sun concert was at Red Hill Auditorium (1 November 2024). The run finishes here.
Empire of the Sun began as a studio project. Luke Steele, of The Sleepy Jackson, and Nick Littlemore, of Pnau, made Walking on a Dream while living on opposite sides of the country, Steele in Perth and Littlemore in Sydney, and the album came out in October 2008 before the band had played a note live. Wikipedia dates the live debut to the Parklife festival in September and October 2009, and the setlist.fm rows match: the City Botanic Gardens in Brisbane on 26 September, Wellington Square in Perth on 27 September, Birrarung Marr in Melbourne on 3 October and Kippax Lake in Sydney on 4 October 2009.
The first year on stage was busy. Setlist.fm lists Townsville in October 2009, Commonwealth Place in Canberra in November, the Waiohika Estate in Gisborne, New Zealand, on 30 December, Phillip Island on New Year's Eve and the Regatta Grounds in Hobart in January 2010. On 26 November 2009, the night the duo won seven ARIA Awards including Album of the Year, the archive lists a single-song performance of “Walking on a Dream” at Acer Arena in Sydney.
In February and March 2010 Empire of the Sun co-headlined the touring Future Music Festival, which the archive places at Doomben Racecourse in Brisbane, Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Royal Randwick in Sydney and Flemington in Melbourne. A regional run followed in May 2010, through Bendigo, Townsville, Maitland, the University of Canberra, Bunbury and the Gardens Amphitheatre in Darwin, and later that year came Woodfordia in Queensland and Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast.
The Ice on the Dune period brought the first theatre-style headline show in the archive: the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House on 31 May 2013, with a 13-song set opening on “Lux” and closing with “Alive”. July 2013 had North Byron Parklands, and over the summer of 2014–15 the band played Lorne, the Falls Festival site at Marion Bay in Tasmania on New Year's Eve, North Byron Parklands on 1 January and Busselton in Western Australia. In January 2017, after Two Vines, they played the Riverstage in Brisbane and Parramatta Park in Sydney.
After a long gap the band returned in February 2023 with Werribee Racecourse in Melbourne, two nights at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney (21 and 22 February) and Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, playing 14 to 16 songs including the Luke Steele solo track “Listen to the Water”. The Ask That God Tour then opened in Australia: the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on 24 October 2024, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on 26 October, the Riverstage in Brisbane on 29 October and the Red Hill Auditorium in Perth on 1 November. Quercus Park at Carrick in Tasmania followed in February 2025, and Hagley Park in Christchurch on 21 February 2025.
The table below lists 49 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Empire of the Sun between 2009 and 2025, with the most shows in Sydney (10), Melbourne (6), Brisbane (6), Perth (3), Byron Bay (2), Canberra (2). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.
| Date | City | Venue | Tour / event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 February 2025 | Christchurch | Hagley Park | |
| 8 February 2025 | Carrick | Quercus Park | Ask That God Tour |
| 5 November 2024 | Melbourne | Flemington Racecourse | |
| 1 November 2024 | Perth | Red Hill Auditorium | |
| 29 October 2024 | Brisbane | Riverstage | Ask That God Tour |
| 26 October 2024 | Melbourne | Sidney Myer Music Bowl | |
| 24 October 2024 | Sydney | Hordern Pavilion | Ask That God Tour |
| 24 March 2024 | Melbourne | Albert Park | |
| 14 October 2023 | Sydney | Royal Randwick Racecourse | |
| 25 February 2023 | Brisbane | Fortitude Music Hall | |
| 22 February 2023 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | |
| 21 February 2023 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | |
| 18 February 2023 | Melbourne | Werribee Racecourse | |
| 8 January 2017 | Sydney | Parramatta Park | |
| 7 January 2017 | Brisbane | Riverstage | |
| 3 January 2015 | Busselton | Sir Stewart Bovell Park | |
| 1 January 2015 | Byron Bay | North Byron Parklands | |
| 31 December 2014 | Marion Bay | Marion Bay Falls Festival Site | |
| 30 December 2014 | Lorne | Surf Coast Shire | |
| 8 March 2014 | Launceston | Inveresk Park | |
| 1 March 2014 | Adelaide | CBC Oval Concert Stage | |
| 7 December 2013 | Brisbane | Brisbane Showgrounds | |
| 27 July 2013 | Byron Bay | North Byron Parklands | |
| 31 May 2013 | Sydney | Concert Hall | Ice on the Dune |
| 26 November 2011 | Sydney | Sydney Showground | |
| 22 October 2011 | Newcastle | Camp Shortland, The Foreshore | |
| 7 October 2011 | Caloundra | Park Alexandra | |
| 24 October 2010 | Gold Coast | Broadwater Parklands | |
| 1 August 2010 | Woodford | Woodfordia | |
| 22 May 2010 | Darwin | Gardens Amphitheatre | |
| 15 May 2010 | Bunbury | Hay Park | |
| 9 May 2010 | Canberra | The Meadows, University of Canberra | |
| 8 May 2010 | Maitland | Maitland Showground | |
| 2 May 2010 | Townsville | Murray Sports Complex - Townsville Cricket Grounds | |
| 1 May 2010 | Bendigo | Prince of Wales Showgrounds | |
| 7 March 2010 | Melbourne | Flemington Racecourse | |
| 6 March 2010 | Sydney | Royal Randwick Racecourse | |
| 28 February 2010 | Perth | Ascot Racecourse | |
| 9 January 2010 | Hobart | Regatta Grounds | |
| 31 December 2009 | Phillip Island | Phillip Island Nature Park | |
| 30 December 2009 | Gisborne | Waiohika Estate | |
| 28 November 2009 | Canberra | Commonwealth Place | |
| 26 November 2009 | Sydney | Acer Arena | |
| 24 October 2009 | Townsville | Hugh Street Rugby Grounds | |
| 4 October 2009 | Sydney | Kippax Lake | |
| 3 October 2009 | Melbourne | Birrarung Marr | |
| 27 September 2009 | Perth | Wellington Square | |
| 26 September 2009 | Brisbane | City Botanic Gardens | |
| 20 February 2009 | Brisbane | Brisbane Entertainment Centre |
Concert data: setlist.fm
Across the 15 most recent documented Australia/NZ concerts with a full song list (3 October 2009 to 8 February 2025), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.
Festivals were how Australia first saw Empire of the Sun live. Wikipedia records the live debut at Parklife in 2009 and a co-headlining slot on the Future Music Festival in February and March 2010, and setlist.fm places the duo at the Falls Festival site at Marion Bay on 31 December 2014.
Many other outdoor rows in the archive (Woodfordia in 2010, North Byron Parklands in 2013 and 2015, Lorne in 2014, Werribee Racecourse in 2023, Hagley Park in Christchurch in 2025) do not name the event, so they are listed here as venues only. The 2027 Afterlife Tour is a run of headline shows with no festival dates.
Empire of the Sun are an Australian electronic music duo formed in 2007 by Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore. The two met in a Sydney bar in 2000, worked together on and off, fell out over a song on The Sleepy Jackson's debut album and reconnected in 2006 on two tracks for Pnau's self-titled album. The new project started under the working title “Steelemore”, with Pnau's Peter Mayes producing.
Walking on a Dream appeared on 3 October 2008. The title track reached number 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart, the album peaked at number 6 and was certified double platinum in Australia, and at the ARIA Music Awards of 2009 it received 11 nominations and won seven, including Album of the Year. “We Are the People” later topped the German singles chart after being used in a television advert in 2010.
Ice on the Dune followed in June 2013 and reached number 3 in Australia; its single “Alive” travelled widely through films, adverts and video games, and the duo scored the Farrelly brothers' Dumb and Dumber To. Two Vines, released on 28 October 2016 and partly recorded in Hawaii, featured Lindsey Buckingham and Wendy Melvoin and reached number 7. Littlemore has largely stayed off stage; Steele leads the live band.
After eight years, Ask That God arrived on 26 July 2024, preceded by the singles “Changes” and “Music on the Radio”, and reached number 10 on the ARIA chart. The duo started work on a fifth album straight away, and in August 2026 Littlemore said it would probably come out within the following year.
| Album | Year | AUS chart peak |
|---|---|---|
| Walking on a Dream | 2008 | AUS 6 |
| Ice on the Dune | 2013 | AUS 3 |
| Two Vines | 2016 | AUS 7 |
| Ask That God | 2024 | AUS 10 |
The Ask That God world tour began in Australia in October 2024 with four shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. It is due to end in Australia in March 2027, and the Afterlife name marks that ending: the Perth show on Saturday 6 March is the last date in the tour data.
Perth has a particular place in the story. Luke Steele was living there when the first album was written, and the city was on the very first run of shows in 2009, at Wellington Square during Parklife. In 2027 it gets the final night, indoors at RAC Arena, the 15,500-capacity venue on Wellington Street that opened in 2012.
With a fifth album being prepared, the Afterlife Tour may be the last chance to see the Ask That God show in its current form. No new album date had been announced as of 9 October 2026.
Two of the six shows are outdoors. The Riverstage, in Brisbane's City Botanic Gardens beside the river, opened in 1989 and holds about 9,500 people; the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne's Kings Domain opened in 1959 and holds up to around 10,000 across its fixed seats and sloping lawns.
Both stages hosted the band on the 2024 leg, so the 2027 shows are return visits. Late-summer evenings suit a production built on costumes, dancers and big screen graphics, and the Riverstage show falls on a Sunday and the Bowl show on a Saturday.
Open-air venues come with weather. Bring layers and check the venue's conditions of entry on bags, umbrellas and re-entry before you go.
Auckland opens the tour at Spark Arena on Friday 19 February 2027. The venue in Quay Park, near Britomart, opened in 2007 as Vector Arena and holds a little over 13,000 for concerts.
New Zealand has seen Empire of the Sun less often than Australia. The setlist.fm archive lists the Waiohika Estate in Gisborne on 30 December 2009, with a nine-song set that ended on “Walking on a Dream”, and Hagley Park in Christchurch on 21 February 2025. The Auckland arena show is the band's only New Zealand date on this tour.
In Sydney the band have moved through almost every kind of room: Kippax Lake in 2009, Acer Arena on ARIA night that year, Royal Randwick in 2010 and 2023, the Sydney Showground in 2011, the Opera House Concert Hall in 2013, Parramatta Park in 2017, the Enmore Theatre for two nights in 2023 and the Hordern Pavilion in 2024.
For 2027 the show goes to Afterpay Arena at Sydney Olympic Park on Thursday 25 February. Built for the 2000 Olympics and opened in 1999 as the Sydney SuperDome, the arena was called Acer Arena when the band played there in 2009 and later Allphones Arena and Qudos Bank Arena; it took its current name in July 2026.
Empire of the Sun shows are known for their staging: elaborate sets, headdresses, costumes and dancers, with Luke Steele at the centre. Wikipedia notes the duo's visual-art background and Steele's references from samurai art to underwater film. Since 2024 the live line-up has included two dancers, Lulani Rawson and Charlotte Bannell.
The 2024 Australian shows ran 17 to 19 songs. At the Hordern Pavilion on 24 October 2024 the set opened with “Changes” and “The Feeling You Get”, took in “Half Mast”, “Cherry Blossom”, “We Are the People”, “Concert Pitch”, “DNA”, “Television”, “Music on the Radio”, “Revolve”, “High and Low”, “Swordfish Hotkiss Night”, “Ask That God”, “Happy Like You” and “Wild World”, and ended with “Walking on a Dream”, “Standing on the Shore” and “Alive”.
Across all their Australian and New Zealand shows on setlist.fm, the most played songs are “Walking on a Dream”, “We Are the People”, “Standing on the Shore” and “Swordfish Hotkiss Night”, followed by “Half Mast”, “DNA” and “Alive”.
Pre-sales for the Afterlife Tour ran on 16 and 17 September 2026 and are finished. General sale opened on Friday 18 September 2026, and tickets are sold through the authorised ticket agencies for each venue and the venues' own box offices.
Ticket types differ between the two outdoor stages in Brisbane and Melbourne and the four arenas in Auckland, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, so read the category carefully. Check the ticket type and the date before you pay and keep tickets in the official app or account.
There is no presale code left to use, and codes sold or shared on social media are not genuine. If extra shows are added, sign up below for the alert.
When does Empire of the Sun's 2027 tour start?
At Spark Arena in Auckland on Friday 19 February 2027.
Where does it finish?
At RAC Arena in Perth on Saturday 6 March 2027, which is also the planned end of the Ask That God world tour.
Which Australian cities are on the tour?
Brisbane (Riverstage, 21 February), Sydney (Afterpay Arena, 25 February), Melbourne (Sidney Myer Music Bowl, 27 February), Adelaide (Adelaide Entertainment Centre, 2 March) and Perth (RAC Arena, 6 March).
Is there a New Zealand date?
Yes, one: Auckland, Spark Arena, Friday 19 February 2027.
When did Empire of the Sun last play Australia?
On the Ask That God Tour: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth in October and November 2024, then Carrick in Tasmania in February 2025, according to setlist.fm.
Are tickets still on sale?
Tickets have been on general sale since Friday 18 September 2026; the pre-sales ran on 16 and 17 September.
Is Nick Littlemore on stage?
Luke Steele leads the live band. Littlemore chose early on not to perform live with the group and is credited with tour management in the live line-up.
Is there a new album?
Ask That God came out in July 2024. In August 2026 Littlemore said a fifth album would probably come out within the next year; no date has been announced.
Who is the support act?
No support act had been announced in the tour data as of 9 October 2026.
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