Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds have not announced any concerts in Australia or New Zealand for 2027. As of 9 October 2026 there is no tour, festival booking or one-off show on the calendar for either country, and nothing official points to a return in the next twelve months.

That is not surprising: the band has only just come home. The Wild God Tour reached Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2026, opening at Fremantle Park on 17 January and taking in Adelaide, two nights in Sydney's Domain, Brisbane Showgrounds, three nights at Alexandra Gardens in Melbourne and two nights at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington. They were the band's first full Australian and New Zealand dates since the Skeleton Tree tour of January 2017.

Formed in Melbourne in 1983, the Bad Seeds have been coming back to their home country for almost four decades. This page sets out what is and is not known about 2027, then tells the full story of their concerts in Australia and New Zealand, from Le Rox in Adelaide in February 1988 to Wellington in February 2026.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: what is announced so far

There is no official information about Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds concerts in Australia or New Zealand in 2027. No dates, venues, support acts or sale dates have been published, and no festival in either country has named the band on a 2027 bill as of 9 October 2026.

The pattern of the last decade suggests a long gap is more likely than a quick return. After the Skeleton Tree run of January 2017 the band did not tour Australia again for nine years; in between, Cave's live work at home included solo and duo projects with Warren Ellis rather than full Bad Seeds tours. The Wild God shows of early 2026 came about eighteen months after the album was released in August 2024 and after long runs in Europe and North America.

Nothing confirmed for 2027 has been found elsewhere either: the verified lists used by this site contain no 2027 Bad Seeds dates in Europe or anywhere else at the time of writing. That does not rule out an announcement, but it does mean any '2027 Australia tour' you see advertised today is not official.

If a tour is announced, it will appear on this page with dates, venues and the presale and general sale times as soon as they are published. Until then, the best way to hear first is the alert sign-up below.

Before the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: Australia/NZ concert history

The Bad Seeds were born out of the Birthday Party, whose members had met at a boarding school in Melbourne, but the band was first put together in London in 1983. Cave came back to Melbourne in December 1983 with a temporary line-up that included Tracy Pew and Hugo Race. The setlist archive's first full Australian run is from early 1988, in the Tender Prey period: two nights at Le Rox Nightclub in Adelaide on 23 and 24 February, two at The Venue in Melbourne on 26 and 27 February, and the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney on 2 March 1988.

The Good Son tour of July 1990 played the University of Queensland in Brisbane, two nights at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, two at the Metro Nightclub in Melbourne and a show at the University of Melbourne. The Henry's Dream tour of late 1992 went wider: Metropolis Fremantle on 30 November, two nights at the Palace in Melbourne, the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on 5 December, the Auckland Town Hall on 8 December, the ANU Bar & Refectory in Canberra and Davies Park in Brisbane. In December 1994, on the Let Love In tour, the band played Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide, Brisbane Festival Hall, two nights at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, the Hordern Pavilion and the Metro Theatre in Sydney.

The Boatman's Call tour of November and December 1997 is remembered for its theatre setting, which suited the quieter piano songs of that album. The band played three nights at the Forum Theatre in Melbourne from 21 to 23 November, three at the State Theatre in Sydney from 25 to 27 November, Brisbane Festival Hall, Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide, and a closing night at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne on 6 December 1997.

In March 2002, touring No More Shall We Part, the band visited Perth's Metro City Concert Club, Thebarton Theatre, Festival Hall in Melbourne, the Enmore Theatre and the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, two nights at the Royal Theatre in Canberra, Brisbane Festival Hall and the Forum in Melbourne. The Nocturama shows of December 2003 included two nights at the Enmore and the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne on 7 December. The Abattoir Blues Tour of May 2005 crossed to New Zealand for the Wellington Town Hall on 12 May and the St James Theatre in Auckland on 13 May, then played two nights in the Big Top at Luna Park in Sydney, Thebarton Theatre, the Melbourne Town Hall, Festival Hall and the Burswood Theatre in Perth.

January 2009 brought the Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! shows and the band's own All Tomorrow's Parties: two nights at the Palace Theatre in Melbourne, Mount Buller, the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart, Thebarton Theatre, the Riverstage in Brisbane, two days on Cockatoo Island in Sydney and the Belvoir Amphitheatre in Perth on 20 January. It was Mick Harvey's last Australian tour with the group; he announced his departure on 22 January 2009. The Push the Sky Away tour of 2013 then opened with three nights in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House from 26 to 28 February, followed by the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Thebarton, Red Hill Auditorium in Perth, the Riverstage and a closing night at the Enmore on 9 March.

The Skeleton Tree tour of January 2017 was the band's biggest Australian and New Zealand run to that point: Hobart's Derwent Entertainment Centre on 13 January, North Gardens in Ballarat, the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington, Vector Arena in Auckland, two nights at the ICC Sydney Theatre, the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, the Riverstage, two nights at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and Perth Arena on 31 January 2017. Nine years later the Wild God Tour moved outdoors in most cities, with Fremantle Park, The Domain in Sydney on 23 and 24 January 2026, Brisbane Showgrounds and Alexandra Gardens in Melbourne from 30 January to 1 February.

The table below lists 107 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds between 1988 and 2026, with the most shows in Melbourne (29), Sydney (28), Adelaide (12), Brisbane (11), Perth (7), Wellington (4). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.

Concert data: setlist.fm

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 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 (25 January 2017 to 6 February 2026), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.

1. From Her to Eternity — played at 15 of 15 shows
2. I Need You — played at 15 of 15 shows
3. Into My Arms — played at 15 of 15 shows
4. Jubilee Street — played at 15 of 15 shows
5. Red Right Hand — played at 15 of 15 shows
6. The Mercy Seat — played at 15 of 15 shows
7. Tupelo — played at 15 of 15 shows
8. Skeleton Tree — played at 14 of 15 shows
9. The Weeping Song — played at 14 of 15 shows
10. Bright Horses — played at 10 of 15 shows
11. Carnage — played at 10 of 15 shows
12. Cinnamon Horses — played at 10 of 15 shows
13. Conversion — played at 10 of 15 shows
14. Frogs — played at 10 of 15 shows

Before the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: past Australia/NZ tours at a glance

• The Wild God Tour - Australia & New Zealand 2026 (2026): 10 Australia/NZ shows — Fremantle, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Wellington.
• Skeleton Tree (2017): 12 Australia/NZ shows — Hobart, Ballarat, Wellington, Auckland, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth.
• Push The Sky Away (2013): 8 Australia/NZ shows — Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane.
• Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2009): 9 Australia/NZ shows — Melbourne, Mount Buller, Hobart, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth.
• The Abattoir Blues Tour (2005): 9 Australia/NZ shows — Brisbane, Wellington, Auckland, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth.
• Nocturama (2003): 4 Australia/NZ shows — Sydney, Melbourne.
• No More Shall We Part (2002): 9 Australia/NZ shows — Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane.
• The Boatman's Call (1997): 9 Australia/NZ shows — Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide.
• Murder Ballads (1996): 6 Australia/NZ shows — Auckland, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth.
• Let Love In (1994): 7 Australia/NZ shows — Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney.
• Henry's Dream (1992–1993): 12 Australia/NZ shows — Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide.
• The Good Son (1990): 6 Australia/NZ shows — Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027 and Australia/NZ festivals

The Bad Seeds played the Big Day Out in 1993 and 1996. The setlist archive shows the 1993 run at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds on 24 January, in Sydney on 26 January, in Brisbane, at Perth Oval and on the Barr Smith Lawns in Adelaide on 1 February 1993; the 1996 run began at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland on 19 January and continued on the Gold Coast, in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and at Perth Oval on 4 February 1996.

In December 2003 the band headlined the main stage at Homebake in Sydney, and in January 2009 Cave and the Bad Seeds curated the first Australian edition of All Tomorrow's Parties, held at Mount Buller and on Cockatoo Island. Cave's other band, Grinderman, played its final show at the Meredith Music Festival in rural Victoria in December 2011, straight after an Australian tour.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: career and records

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds were formed in 1983 by Nick Cave, Mick Harvey and Blixa Bargeld after the end of the Birthday Party. Their first album, From Her to Eternity (1984), and the records that followed in the 1980s drew on post-punk, blues and gothic rock, with a line-up that soon included Barry Adamson and, later, Kid Congo Powers. Cave was living in Europe for much of that decade, which is why the band's early Australian tours were occasional events.

The sound softened on The Good Son (1990) and Henry's Dream (1992), and the band broke through commercially at home in the mid-1990s. Let Love In (1994) reached the Australian top ten, and Murder Ballads (1996) went to No. 3, carried by 'Where the Wild Roses Grow', the duet with Kylie Minogue that was a hit in Australia and the UK and won three ARIA Awards, including Song of the Year. The Boatman's Call (1997), with 'Into My Arms', followed it into the top five.

Through the 2000s the band moved between the restraint of No More Shall We Part (2001) and the noise of Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (2004) and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008), which reached No. 2 in Australia. Warren Ellis, who had joined in the 1990s, became Cave's closest collaborator, and after Harvey left in 2009 the music shifted towards electronic and ambient textures.

That shift defined the trilogy of Push the Sky Away (2013), Skeleton Tree (2016) and Ghosteen (2019); the first two went to No. 1 in Australia and Ghosteen to No. 2. Wild God, the eighteenth studio album, followed in 2024 and also peaked at No. 2. The current line-up features Cave, Ellis and Martyn P. Casey from Australia, George Vjestica, Larry Mullins, Thomas Wydler and Jim Sclavunos.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: the Melbourne connection

Melbourne is where it began, and the city has had more Bad Seeds nights than anywhere else in Australia. The setlist archive lists shows at The Venue, the Metro Nightclub, the Palace, the Palais Theatre, the Forum, the Regent Theatre, Festival Hall, the Melbourne Town Hall, the Palace Theatre, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and Alexandra Gardens, as well as university gigs and a Big Day Out at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds.

The Sidney Myer Music Bowl has been a recurring outdoor home: the band played it in December 2003, March 2013 and on two nights in January 2017. In 2026 Melbourne got three nights at Alexandra Gardens, more than any other city on the Wild God Tour, a sign of how deep the audience runs in the band's home town.

Away from the Bad Seeds, Cave and Ellis also played two orchestral shows of their film music at Hamer Hall in Melbourne, which shows how often the city features in Cave's wider work.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: Sydney's theatres and parks

Sydney audiences have seen the band in almost every kind of room. The Enmore Theatre in Newtown has hosted them in 1990, 2002, 2003 and 2013; the Hordern Pavilion in 1992, 1994 and 2002; the State Theatre for three nights in 1997; and the Big Top at Luna Park for two nights in 2005.

The more unusual settings stand out. The Push the Sky Away tour opened with three nights in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House in February 2013, and All Tomorrow's Parties took the band to Cockatoo Island in the harbour in January 2009. In 2026 they played two open-air nights in The Domain on 23 and 24 January.

If a future tour follows the 2026 model, Sydney is likely to get more than one night, but no venue has been announced for 2027.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: Auckland, Wellington and New Zealand

New Zealand has been a regular but less frequent stop. The setlist archive shows the Auckland Town Hall in December 1992, Mount Smart Stadium at the 1996 Big Day Out, the Wellington Town Hall and the St James Theatre in Auckland in May 2005, and the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington and Vector Arena in Auckland in January 2017.

On the Wild God Tour the archive lists two nights at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington on 5 and 6 February 2026, the band's longest stand in the capital. No New Zealand date has been announced for 2027.

Cave also took a solo tour, with Ellis and members of the band, around Australia and New Zealand in late 2014, which the archive records at the Fremantle Arts Centre on 28 November 2014.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: touring beyond the capitals

Unlike many international acts, the Bad Seeds have often gone beyond the five mainland capitals. The archive includes Canberra (the ANU Bar & Refectory in 1992 and two nights at the Royal Theatre in 2002), Hobart's Derwent Entertainment Centre in 2009 and 2017, Mount Buller in 2009, Ballarat's North Gardens and the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in 2017, and the Gold Coast at the 1996 Big Day Out.

Perth and Fremantle have also had regular visits, from Metropolis Fremantle in 1992 and Perth Oval at two Big Day Outs to the Belvoir Amphitheatre in the Swan Valley in 2009, Red Hill Auditorium in 2013, Perth Arena in 2017 and Fremantle Park, which opened the 2026 tour.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: what to expect live

A Bad Seeds concert today runs a little over two hours. The Wild God shows in Australia and New Zealand in 2026 had 23 to 25 songs, opening with 'Frogs', 'Wild God' and 'Song of the Lake', then moving through 'O Children', 'Jubilee Street', 'From Her to Eternity', 'Tupelo', 'Bright Horses', 'Joy', 'I Need You' and 'Carnage' to the run of 'Red Right Hand' and 'The Mercy Seat'. The encores included 'Papa Won't Leave You, Henry', 'The Weeping Song', 'Skeleton Tree' and 'Into My Arms', with 'Shivers' and 'Henry Lee' added on some nights.

Across all the band's Australian and New Zealand shows in the archive, 'The Mercy Seat' is the most played song, followed by 'Red Right Hand', 'The Weeping Song', 'From Her to Eternity', 'The Ship Song', 'Stagger Lee' and 'Into My Arms'. The 2017 shows mixed Skeleton Tree songs such as 'Jesus Alone', 'Anthrocene', 'Magneto' and 'Distant Sky' with older favourites, and closed with 'Push the Sky Away'.

On the Wild God Tour, set lists change little from night to night, but a few songs rotate, so Melbourne's three nights in 2026 were not identical.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027 tickets and presales

There are no Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds tickets on sale for Australia or New Zealand in 2027, because no concerts have been announced. Any site selling seats or offering a 'presale code' for 2027 dates is not official.

When a tour is announced, tickets are normally sold through the official ticketing partner of each venue, often with a fan presale before the general sale. Buy only from official outlets or the venue box office, expect name-linked mobile tickets, and be wary of anyone selling presale codes.

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Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Australia Tour 2027: questions and answers

Are Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds touring Australia in 2027?

No dates have been announced as of 9 October 2026. The band toured Australia and New Zealand in January and February 2026.

When did Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds last play Australia?

On the Wild God Tour in early 2026, with shows from Fremantle Park on 17 January to three nights at Alexandra Gardens in Melbourne ending on 1 February 2026.

Did the Wild God Tour visit New Zealand?

Yes. The setlist archive lists two nights at the TSB Bank Arena in Wellington on 5 and 6 February 2026.

Are any 2027 dates announced anywhere?

Not in the verified lists used by this site as of 9 October 2026.

Have they played the Big Day Out?

Yes, in 1993 and 1996, including Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland in 1996.

What is the most played song at their Australian shows?

'The Mercy Seat', followed by 'Red Right Hand' and 'The Weeping Song'.

Have they played the Sydney Opera House?

Yes, three nights in the Concert Hall from 26 to 28 February 2013.

Where did the band form?

In Melbourne in 1983, according to Wikipedia, after the end of the Birthday Party; the first line-up came together in London.

Is there a presale code for 2027?

No. With no tour announced, any code on offer is not official.