Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027

Fat Freddy's Drop start 2027 at home, with two Based on a True Story Anniversary Shows at Neudorf Vineyards near Nelson, at the top of New Zealand's South Island, on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January 2027. The pre-sale has finished, and tickets have been on general sale since Monday 17 August 2026. As of 9 October 2026 these are the band's only confirmed 2027 dates in Australia or New Zealand.

The shows continue the celebration of Based on a True Story, the 2005 debut studio album that became the first independently distributed record to go straight to No. 1 in New Zealand and is the third-best-selling album by a New Zealand act. In 2026 the band played it on a 21st anniversary tour that filled the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and Forum Melbourne for three nights each in March, then three-night runs at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre and the Christchurch Town Hall and three Auckland shows in May.

It is also the band's first full touring cycle since the death of founder Chris Faiumu, known on stage as DJ Mu or DJ Fitchie, on 16 July 2025. This page covers the Nelson dates, how tickets were sold, and the Wellington collective's long record of concerts in New Zealand and Australia, from Rippon Vineyard in 2006 to the anniversary nights of 2026.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: confirmed dates

The two Nelson nights are outdoor summer shows at Neudorf Vineyards, a winery in the Moutere hills of the Tasman District, west of Nelson. The band know the site well: they played there on Wednesday 9 January 2019 and again on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 February 2025, when the Slo Mo summer tour stopped there for two nights.

The billing, Based on a True Story Anniversary Shows, follows on from the 2026 tour. In New Zealand and Australia that tour's sets were built around the album, opening with Ernie and Cay's Crays and playing This Room, Ray Ray, Flashback, Roady and Wandering Eye before closing with Shiverman and Hope or Midnight Marauders.

No Australian date has been announced for 2027. The band's most recent Australian shows were the anniversary nights in Sydney (13 to 15 March 2026) and Melbourne (20 to 22 March 2026), and the year before they played Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle on the Slo Mo tour. If an Australian run or more New Zealand summer shows are added, they will be listed on this page.

The Nelson weekend fits a pattern: almost every New Zealand summer since the mid-2000s has included Fat Freddy's Drop shows at vineyards, parks and festival sites, from Matakana and Kerikeri in the north to Cardrona and Wanaka in the south.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: venue guide

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027 at Neudorf Vineyards, Nelson

A vineyard and winery in the Moutere hills of the Tasman District, west of Nelson at the top of the South Island. The area was settled by German immigrants who arrived in 1843 and founded the villages of Sarau, now Upper Moutere, and Neudorf; the vineyard grounds host outdoor summer concerts.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: night by night

Saturday 16 January 2027 — Neudorf Vineyards, Nelson. Night 1 of 2 at this venue. Fat Freddy's Drop last played Neudorf Vineyards on 2 February 2025. This is the only Australia/NZ date announced so far.

Before the Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: Australia/NZ concert history

Fat Freddy's Drop grew out of Wellington's late-1990s music scene, and their first full-length release, Live at the Matterhorn (2001), was recorded at the Matterhorn club in Wellington. Salmonella Dub, from Kaikōura, gave them their first chances to play to large crowds in New Zealand and Australia, and from 2004 touring New Zealand and Australia became an almost annual trip. The setlist archive's earliest rows are summer shows at Rippon Vineyard near Wanaka on Saturday 4 February 2006, Ohuka Farm in the Coromandel on New Year's Eve 2006, Ilam Oval in Christchurch in March 2007 and Shed 1 on the Wellington waterfront on New Year's Eve 2007.

For Dr Boondigga and the Big BW they played two nights at the Powerstation in Auckland in April 2009 and two more in November 2009, then New Year shows at the Mangawhai Tavern in 2010 and 2011. Blackbird came with a national tour of Australia in late August and early September 2013, playing the Tivoli in Brisbane, three nights at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and two nights at the Astor Theatre in Perth, followed by two nights at the Powerstation in September 2013 and Vector Arena in Auckland on Tuesday 9 September 2014.

Australia saw them regularly through the 2010s. In 2014 they played Scarborough Beach in Perth in January and, in one March week, Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Melbourne Zoo and Botanic Park in Adelaide. In January 2015 they played the Tivoli and, on Australia Day, the Concert Hall in Sydney. The Bays tour of February 2016 went to Red Hill Auditorium in Perth, Clancy's Fish Pub in Dunsborough, the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide, two nights at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne, the Odeon Theatre in Hobart, the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney and the Tivoli in Brisbane. After a long gap they returned in November 2022 for the Opera House Forecourt in Sydney and Eatons Hill in Brisbane.

At home, the summer circuit is where the band lives. The archive lists Hagley Park in Christchurch almost every other year, the Wellington Waterfront, Villa Maria Estate and the Outer Fields at Western Springs in Auckland, Wharepai Domain in Tauranga, Thames Racecourse, the Northland Events Centre in Whangārei, the Queenstown Events Centre and the Black Barn Amphitheatre in Hastings. In November 2020 they played Spark Arena in Auckland on Saturday 7 November, and that summer took in Waitangi Park in Wellington, Raglan, Tauranga and Christchurch.

The Slo Mo tour of 2025 began at Brewtown in Upper Hutt on 25 January and Lilyworld in Auckland on 26 January, then Neudorf Vineyards and Hagley Park, before Australian shows at the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, the Hordern Pavilion, Festival Hall in Melbourne and two nights at the Fremantle Arts Centre on 22 and 23 March 2025. The 21st anniversary tour of Based on a True Story opened with a small show at Meow Nui in Wellington on Friday 20 February 2026, played the Enmore Theatre from 13 to 15 March and the Forum Theatre from 20 to 22 March, and ended in New Zealand with three nights at the Michael Fowler Centre, three at the Christchurch Town Hall, two at Auckland Town Hall and a final night at the Civic Theatre on Sunday 17 May 2026.

The table below lists 118 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Fat Freddy's Drop between 2006 and 2026, with the most shows in Auckland (20), Christchurch (12), Wellington (12), Melbourne (10), Sydney (10), Brisbane (5). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.

Concert data: setlist.fm

Fat Freddy's Drop 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 (26 January 2025 to 17 May 2026), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.

1. Roady — played at 15 of 15 shows
2. Shiverman — played at 15 of 15 shows
3. Next Stop — played at 14 of 15 shows
4. Wandering Eye — played at 10 of 15 shows
5. Avengers — played at 9 of 15 shows
6. Hope — played at 9 of 15 shows
7. Ernie — played at 8 of 15 shows
8. Blackbird — played at 7 of 15 shows
9. Cay's Crays — played at 7 of 15 shows
10. Flashback — played at 7 of 15 shows
11. Ray Ray — played at 7 of 15 shows
12. Slo Mo — played at 7 of 15 shows
13. This Room — played at 7 of 15 shows
14. Boondigga — played at 6 of 15 shows

Before the Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: past Australia/NZ tours at a glance

• Based On A True Story 21st Anniversary Tour (2026): 16 Australia/NZ shows — Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Christchurch, Auckland.
• The SLO MO Album Tour (2025): 1 Australia/NZ show — Melbourne.
• NZ Summer Record Tour 2020 (2020): 1 Australia/NZ show — Auckland.
• Salmonella Dub 25th Anniversary Tour (2018): 1 Australia/NZ show — Christchurch.
• Blackbird (2013): 7 Australia/NZ shows — Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027 and Australia/NZ festivals

In Australia the band played Splendour in the Grass during the 2013 Blackbird tour, the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre in March 2014, the Falls Festival sites at Lorne, Marion Bay and North Byron Parklands over New Year 2016-17 and the Crossroads stage at Byron Bay at Easter 2022.

New Zealand's New Year festivals feature heavily in the archive: Robrosa Station at Cardrona in 2017, 2020 and 2023, Waiohika Estate in Gisborne on New Year's Eve 2020, Worsfold Farm at Mangawhai and Kainui Road Vineyard at Kerikeri. In January 2018 they joined Salmonella Dub's 25th anniversary tour in Christchurch, a nod to the band that first took them on the road.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: career and records

Fat Freddy's Drop formed in Wellington in 1999 around Chris Faiumu, trumpeter Toby Laing and singer Dallas Tamaira (Joe Dukie), who jammed at Faiumu's seaside home. Keyboardist Iain Gordon, trombonist Joe Lindsay, guitarist Tehimana Kerr and saxophonist Warren Maxwell joined in 2000; the members also played in The Black Seeds, TrinityRoots and Bongmaster. Faiumu founded the band's own label, The Drop, which has released all their records.

Midnight Marauders was picked up by the German label Sonar Kollektiv in 2002, and Europe became a second home: the band has toured there nearly every year since 2003. Based on a True Story (2005) went straight to No. 1 in New Zealand, stayed in the top 40 for more than two years, has been certified 12 times platinum and won Best Album and Best Group at the 2005 New Zealand Music Awards.

Dr Boondigga and the Big BW (2009) was New Zealand's best-selling album of that year and reached No. 45 in Australia. Blackbird (2013) spent four weeks at No. 1 in New Zealand and reached No. 11 in Australia, and Bays (2015), named after their Wellington base, reached No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 12 in Australia. Special Edition Part 1 followed in 2019, then two albums recorded without an audience, Lock-In (2020) and Wairunga (2021), and Slo Mo in October 2024.

Saxophonist Scott Towers (Chopper Reedz) replaced Maxwell in 2007, MC Mark Williams (MC Slave) appears on stage, and guitarist Conway Jeune joined in 2024. Faiumu died on 16 July 2025. The band's music is often described as Aotearoa roots, drawing on dub, reggae, soul, jazz and techno, with songs refined over years of live improvisation before they are recorded.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: Nelson and the vineyard summers

Neudorf Vineyards has become one of the band's regular South Island stops. The setlist archive shows a show there on 9 January 2019, in the middle of a run that went from Whangārei to Christchurch, and two nights on 1 and 2 February 2025. The 2025 sets ran to about 11 songs, opening with Stand Straight and Blackbird and ending with Shiverman and Hope.

Wineries are a long-running part of their New Zealand touring: Rippon in Wanaka in 2006, Villa Maria in Auckland in 2017 and 2018, Ascension Wine Estate in Matakana in 2016, Kainui Road at Kerikeri and the Black Barn Amphitheatre in Hawke's Bay. The two January 2027 nights fall on a Saturday and a Sunday, the usual shape of a Nelson summer weekend.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: what the anniversary set looks like

The anniversary sets put Based on a True Story at the centre. At the Michael Fowler Centre on 1 May 2026 the band opened with Ernie, moved through Cay's Crays, Coffee Black, This Room, Ray Ray, Dark Days and Flashback, added later songs such as Next Stop, Roady and Avengers, and finished with Wandering Eye, Out to Sea, Shiverman and Hope.

The Auckland Town Hall shows of 15 and 16 May 2026 closed with Midnight Marauders, the single that first took the band to Europe, and at the Civic Theatre on 17 May it was paired with Hope. Songs often run well over ten minutes, so a dozen titles can fill a long night.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: Wellington, home base

The band is a Wellington institution. Their first album was recorded at the Matterhorn, Bays takes its name from their studio base in the city, and the archive includes the Wellington Waterfront (2012, 2014, 2017 and 2018), Shed 1, Williams Park, Days Bay in Lower Hutt, Waitangi Park and the Michael Fowler Centre in 2020 and for three nights in May 2026.

The 2026 anniversary tour began in the city at Meow Nui on 20 February with a six-song set that ended with This Room and Bob Marley's Waiting in Vain. No Wellington date is part of the 2027 announcement.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: when Australia gets them

Australian tours have come every year or two: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2022, 2025 and 2026. Sydney's Enmore Theatre and Hordern Pavilion, Melbourne's Forum and Festival Hall and Brisbane's Tivoli and Fortitude Music Hall are their usual rooms, with Perth and Fremantle at the end of most runs.

After three-night stands in Sydney and Melbourne in March 2026, nothing Australian has been announced for 2027. Sign up below for the alert if you want to hear first if that changes.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: what to expect live

Fat Freddy's Drop are known above all as a live band: the songs on their albums are versions shaped over years of improvised playing, and on stage they stretch out again, with long instrumental passages, horn lines from Laing, Lindsay and Towers, and MC Slave alongside Tamaira. Recent headline sets have been about 11 to 14 songs, many of them long.

Since 2025 the Australian and New Zealand sets have changed little within a tour. The Slo Mo shows at the Fortitude Music Hall, Festival Hall and Fremantle in March 2025 ran Stand Straight, Blackbird, Next Stop, Bush Telegraph, Roady, Slo Mo, Boondigga, Avengers, Shady, Wandering Eye, Shiverman and Hope. The 2026 anniversary sets replaced the new songs with album tracks such as Ernie, Ray Ray and Flashback.

The Nelson set list has not been published.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027 tickets and presales

The pre-sale for the Nelson shows has finished, and tickets have been on general sale since Monday 17 August 2026 through the band's official New Zealand ticketing outlet and the venue. Each night is sold separately, so check the date on your ticket.

Buy only from those official channels or their authorised resale service; most New Zealand events now use mobile tickets tied to the buyer. There is no public Fat Freddy's Drop presale code to buy or share, and offers on social media of discounted or guaranteed tickets are not genuine.

These are outdoor vineyard shows, so check the conditions of entry, transport and age rules before you travel. Sign up below for the alert to hear about returned tickets, extra summer dates or an Australian tour.

Fat Freddy's Drop Australia Tour 2027: questions and answers

When are Fat Freddy's Drop playing in 2027?

At Neudorf Vineyards near Nelson on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January 2027.

Are there any Australian dates in 2027?

No Australian date had been announced as of 9 October 2026. They last played Australia in March 2026, at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and the Forum in Melbourne.

What are the Nelson shows celebrating?

The band's debut studio album, Based on a True Story (2005), which they also toured for its 21st anniversary in 2026.

When did tickets go on sale?

The pre-sale is over; the general sale opened on Monday 17 August 2026.

Have they played Neudorf Vineyards before?

Yes, on 9 January 2019 and on 1 and 2 February 2025.

Is there an Auckland or Wellington date in 2027?

Not yet. Their last shows there were at Auckland Town Hall and the Civic Theatre and at Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre in May 2026.

Who is in the band now?

Dallas Tamaira, Toby Laing, Iain Gordon, Joe Lindsay, Scott Towers and Conway Jeune, with MC Slave on stage. Founder Chris Faiumu died in July 2025.

What is their latest album?

Slo Mo, released in October 2024.