Public Image Ltd bring John Lydon back to this part of the world in January 2027. PiL Australia & NZ 2027 is a six-city run over nine days: it opens at the Powerstation in Auckland on Wednesday 20 January, crosses to The Tivoli in Brisbane on Friday 22 January, then plays the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Saturday 23 January and Forum Melbourne on Sunday 24 January. The Gov in Adelaide follows on Tuesday 26 January and the Astor Theatre in Perth closes the tour on Thursday 28 January.
These are theatre and club-sized rooms, the kind PiL have always played in this country. The band's Australian story in the setlist.fm archive starts in December 1984 at Brisbane's Festival Hall and runs through a long 1989 tour of pubs, leagues clubs and universities to three east-coast theatre shows in April 2013. The 2027 visit is the first in nearly fourteen years and the first to reach Perth in the archive.
PiL released End of World in August 2023 and have toured frequently through 2025 and 2026, with concerts planned into 2027. All six Australian and New Zealand shows have been on sale since Tuesday 12 May 2026.
New Zealand comes first. The Powerstation on Mount Eden Road in Auckland hosts the opening night on Wednesday 20 January 2027, and it is a return to a room PiL know: the archive lists two Powerstation nights in Auckland on 1 and 2 September 1989, at the end of the band's tour for the album 9. It is the only New Zealand date announced.
In Australia the tour runs up the east coast and then west. Brisbane's Tivoli in Fortitude Valley is on Friday 22 January, the Enmore Theatre in Newtown on Saturday 23 January and Forum Melbourne on Sunday 24 January, three nights in a row. After a day off the band play The Gov, the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel in Adelaide, on Tuesday 26 January, which is Australia Day, before ending at the Astor Theatre in Mount Lawley, Perth, on Thursday 28 January.
No support act had been listed for the tour as of 9 October 2026, and no Canberra, Hobart, Newcastle, Gold Coast or second New Zealand date had been announced. Those are cities PiL played on earlier tours, Canberra and Newcastle twice each, but in 2027 the route is limited to six cities.
The line-up has not been listed for the tour either. Wikipedia names Lydon and the guitarist Lu Edmonds among the current members; Lydon is the only person who has been in every version of the band since 1978.
The Powerstation is a live music venue at 33 Mount Eden Road in Eden Terrace, Auckland, holding about 1,000 people. In 1986 the building housed The Asylum, described as the first house music club in Australasia.
The Tivoli at 52 Costin Street in Fortitude Valley occupies a 1917 building that was once the Adams Bakery. Converted into a cabaret-style restaurant and theatre, it opened in August 1989, keeps its Art Deco features and holds about 1,560 standing.
The Enmore Theatre on Enmore Road in Newtown, in Sydney's inner west, opened in 1912 and was remodelled in Art Deco style in 1937. It holds about 1,700 seated or 2,500 standing and is the longest-running live theatre in Sydney.
The Forum, on the corner of Flinders and Russell streets, opened in 1929 as the State Theatre, an atmospheric theatre designed by John Eberson with a Moorish exterior and a starry ceiling. Heritage-listed, it has operated as a live music venue since 1995 and holds about 2,000 standing.
The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, known as The Gov, opened in 1848 in Hindmarsh, about 3.5 km north-west of Adelaide's city centre. It has several performance spaces and in 2017 won both the state and national hotel association awards for best live music venue.
The Astor Theatre on Beaufort Street in Mount Lawley opened in 1914 as the Lyceum Theatre and was rebuilt in Art Deco style in 1939. Listed on the State Register of Heritage Places, it reopened in 2009 as a venue for live music and comedy.
Wednesday 20 January 2027 — The Powerstation, Auckland. Public Image Ltd last played Powerstation on 2 September 1989 (9 Tour). The tour starts here.
Friday 22 January 2027 — The Tivoli, Brisbane. In Brisbane, the last documented Public Image Ltd concert was at The Hi-Fi (9 April 2013).
Saturday 23 January 2027 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney. Their previous show at this venue was on 10 April 2013.
Sunday 24 January 2027 — Forum Melbourne, Melbourne. Their most recent documented Melbourne show was at Palace Theatre on 11 April 2013.
Tuesday 26 January 2027 — The Gov, Adelaide. In Adelaide, the last documented Public Image Ltd concert was at Le Rox Nightclub (30 August 1989).
Thursday 28 January 2027 — Astor Theatre, Perth. The run finishes here.
PiL's first Australian tour began on 14 December 1984 at Festival Hall in Brisbane, on the This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get tour. The next three weeks covered an unusual spread of rooms: the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney (15 December), the ANU Bar & Refectory in Canberra (16 December), the Palais Theatre in St Kilda (18 December), the Pier Hotel (20 December) and the Seaview Ballroom (21 December) in Melbourne, and the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide (22 December).
That tour then turned into a string of club and pub dates around Christmas and New Year: Shellharbour Workers Club on 24 December, two nights at the Playroom on the Gold Coast on 26 and 27 December, Ballina RSL on 28 December, the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane on 29 December and the Tivoli Theatre in Sydney on 30 December. In January 1985 the band played the Newcastle Workers Club (2 January), the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Leagues Club (3 January), the Royal Antler Hotel at Narrabeen (4 January) and finally Selina's at the Coogee Bay Hotel on 5 January. The set lists of that tour included the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the U.K." alongside "Public Image", "Annalisa", "Religion II" and "This Is Not a Love Song".
The band came back in August 1989 with the line-up that made 9. The archive lists 18 Australasian concerts on that run, starting at the Dee Why Hotel in Sydney on 8 August. The tour took in the Illawarra Master Builders Club in Wollongong, the Hills Centre and Selina's in Sydney, the Newcastle Workers Club, the Revesby Roundhouse, Easts Leagues Club in Brisbane, the Patch on the Gold Coast, the Piggery Arts Factory in Byron Bay and the ANU in Canberra.
Melbourne got four nights in 1989: Monash University on 24 August, two nights at the Palace Complex on 25 and 26 August and the 21st Century Dance Club on 27 August. The Enmore Theatre in Sydney followed on 29 August, Le Rox Nightclub in Adelaide on 30 August, and the band finished with two nights at the Powerstation in Auckland on 1 and 2 September 1989. The 1989 sets opened with "Warrior" and "Happy" and leaned on 9 and Happy? songs such as "Disappointed", "Seattle", "The Body" and "Brave New World".
After the 2009 reunion PiL returned once, for three theatre shows in April 2013: The Hi-Fi in Brisbane on 9 April, the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on 10 April and the Palace Theatre in Melbourne on 11 April. All three nights used the same 15-song set, opening with "Four Enclosed Walls" and "Albatross" and including "Death Disco", "Flowers of Romance", "One Drop" and "Reggie Song" from This Is PiL, before "Rise" and "Open Up" at the end.
Across all those nights the most played songs in the archive are "This Is Not a Love Song" and "Public Image", followed by "Warrior", "Memories", "Disappointed" and "Rise". Sydney has had more PiL nights than anywhere else, with the Enmore Theatre the one Sydney venue the band have played on three different tours: 1989, 2013 and now 2027.
The table below lists 38 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Public Image Ltd between 1984 and 2013, with the most shows in Sydney (11), Melbourne (8), Brisbane (4), Gold Coast (3), Auckland (2), Adelaide (2). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.
| Date | City | Venue | Tour / event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 April 2013 | Melbourne | Palace Theatre | |
| 10 April 2013 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | |
| 9 April 2013 | Brisbane | The Hi-Fi | |
| 2 September 1989 | Auckland | Powerstation | 9 Tour |
| 1 September 1989 | Auckland | Powerstation | 9 Tour |
| 30 August 1989 | Adelaide | Le Rox Nightclub | 9 Tour |
| 29 August 1989 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | 9 Tour |
| 27 August 1989 | Melbourne | 21st Century Dance Club | 9 Tour |
| 26 August 1989 | Melbourne | The Palace Complex | 9 Tour |
| 25 August 1989 | Melbourne | The Palace Complex | 9 Tour |
| 24 August 1989 | Melbourne | Monash University | 9 Tour |
| 22 August 1989 | Canberra | ANU Bar & Refectory | 9 Tour |
| 20 August 1989 | Byron Bay | The Piggery Arts Factory | 9 Tour |
| 19 August 1989 | Gold Coast | The Patch | 9 Tour |
| 18 August 1989 | Brisbane | Easts Leagues Club | 9 Tour |
| 16 August 1989 | Sydney | Revesby Roundhouse | 9 Tour |
| 15 August 1989 | Newcastle | Newcastle Workers Club | 9 Tour |
| 12 August 1989 | Sydney | Selina's Coogee Bay Hotel | 9 Tour |
| 11 August 1989 | Sydney | Hills Centre | 9 Tour |
| 10 August 1989 | Wollongong | Illawarra Master Builders Club | 9 Tour |
| 8 August 1989 | Sydney | Dee Why Hotel | 9 Tour |
| 5 January 1985 | Sydney | Selina's Coogee Bay Hotel | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 4 January 1985 | Sydney | Royal Antler Hotel | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 3 January 1985 | Sydney | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Leagues Club | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 2 January 1985 | Newcastle | Newcastle Workers Club | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 30 December 1984 | Sydney | Tivoli Theatre | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 29 December 1984 | Brisbane | Mansfield Tavern | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 28 December 1984 | Ballina | Ballina RSL | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 27 December 1984 | Gold Coast | The Playroom | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 26 December 1984 | Gold Coast | The Playroom | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 24 December 1984 | Shellharbour | Shellharbour Workers Club | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 22 December 1984 | Adelaide | Thebarton Theatre | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 21 December 1984 | Melbourne | Seaview Ballroom | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 20 December 1984 | Melbourne | Pier Hotel | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 18 December 1984 | Melbourne | Palais Theatre | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 16 December 1984 | Canberra | ANU Bar & Refectory | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 15 December 1984 | Sydney | Hordern Pavilion | This Is What You Want... Tour |
| 14 December 1984 | Brisbane | Brisbane Festival Hall | This Is What You Want... Tour |
Concert data: setlist.fm
Across the 15 most recent documented Australia/NZ concerts with a full song list (22 December 1984 to 11 April 2013), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.
Public Image Ltd were formed in 1978 by John Lydon, who as Johnny Rotten had fronted the Sex Pistols, with guitarist Keith Levene, a founding member of the Clash, bassist Jah Wobble and drummer Jim Walker. Their first single, "Public Image", reached No. 9 in the UK in October 1978, and the debut album Public Image: First Issue followed in December.
Metal Box (1979), first released as three 12-inch records in a metal film canister, and The Flowers of Romance (1981) are regarded as landmark post-punk records, drawing on dub, noise, krautrock and disco. By 1984 the original members had left and PiL moved towards a more accessible sound. "This Is Not a Love Song" became their biggest hit, reaching No. 5 in the UK, and This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get (1984) and Album (1986), produced by Bill Laswell with Steve Vai, Ginger Baker and Ryuichi Sakamoto among the players, brought them a wider audience.
There is an Australian thread through the late 1980s. In early 1988 PiL supported INXS on the US leg of the Kick tour, and the 1990 compilation The Greatest Hits, So Far had sleeve artwork by Reg Mombassa. Happy? (1987) and 9 (1989) came from the steadiest line-up, with John McGeoch and Allan Dias, and That What Is Not (1992) was the last album before Lydon put the band on hold.
Lydon re-formed PiL in 2009, partly funded by money from a television advertisement for butter, with Bruce Smith and Lu Edmonds back from earlier line-ups and Scott Firth joining. This Is PiL (2012) was their first studio album in twenty years, followed by What the World Needs Now... (2015). In 2023 the band competed in Eurosong to represent Ireland at Eurovision with "Hawaii", a song for Lydon's wife Nora Forster, finishing fourth; after her death in April 2023 they released End of World on 11 August 2023.
| Album | Year | AUS chart peak |
|---|---|---|
| Public Image: First Issue | 1978 | AUS 77 |
| Metal Box | 1979 | — |
| The Flowers of Romance | 1981 | AUS 94 |
| This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get | 1984 | — |
| Album | 1986 | AUS 59 |
| Happy? | 1987 | — |
| 9 | 1989 | AUS 57 |
| That What Is Not | 1992 | — |
| This Is PiL | 2012 | — |
| What the World Needs Now... | 2015 | — |
| End of World | 2023 | — |
The opening night in Auckland on Wednesday 20 January 2027 closes a loop of more than 37 years. The last PiL concerts in New Zealand in the archive were at the Powerstation on 1 and 2 September 1989, the final two dates of that year's Australasian tour, and the band have not been recorded in the country since.
The Powerstation holds about 1,000 people, which makes it the smallest room on the 2027 tour and one of the most intimate places to see Lydon in this part of the world. With only one New Zealand date, fans from Wellington, Christchurch and the rest of the country will need to travel to Auckland, or cross the Tasman for one of the Australian shows.
The Enmore Theatre in Newtown is the one constant of PiL's Australian history. The band played it on 29 August 1989, near the end of the 9 tour, with a 15-song set that included "World Destruction" and "Low Life"; they returned on 10 April 2013; and they play it again on Saturday 23 January 2027.
Sydney has always been the busiest city for PiL in Australia. Between 1984 and 1989 the band played the Hordern Pavilion, the Tivoli Theatre, Selina's at the Coogee Bay Hotel twice, the Royal Antler Hotel, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Leagues Club, the Dee Why Hotel, the Hills Centre and the Revesby Roundhouse. In 2027 there is one Sydney date, on a Saturday night.
The Adelaide show at The Gov falls on Tuesday 26 January 2027, the Australia Day public holiday. The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel in Hindmarsh, a short trip north-west of the city centre, is a long-running live music pub and won national awards as a live music venue in 2017.
Adelaide has seen PiL twice before in the archive: at the Thebarton Theatre on 22 December 1984 and at Le Rox Nightclub on 30 August 1989. The 2013 tour did not go to South Australia, so this will be the first PiL concert in the city for more than 37 years.
Perth is new territory. None of the earlier PiL tours in the setlist.fm archive went to Western Australia, so the Astor Theatre in Mount Lawley on Thursday 28 January 2027 is the band's first recorded concert in the state.
The Astor is a heritage Art Deco theatre on Beaufort Street, rebuilt in 1939 and reopened as a live music and comedy venue in 2009. As the final night of the tour, it closes a run that started in Auckland eight days earlier.
PiL concerts in Australia have been compact, usually 12 to 16 songs. The 2013 shows were identical from night to night: 15 songs mixing new material from This Is PiL with "Albatross", "Death Disco" and "Flowers of Romance" from the early albums and the hits "This Is Not a Love Song", "Public Image" and "Rise".
The earlier tours tell the story of a changing band. In 1984 Lydon's group played "The Order of Death", "Bad Life", "Low Life", "Annalisa" and "Religion II" and often ended with "Anarchy in the U.K."; in 1989 the sets were built around 9 and Happy?, with "Warrior", "Seattle", "The Body" and "Disappointed".
No 2027 set list has been published. The band's most recent album is End of World (2023), and the set may well draw on it and on the older catalogue; whatever the mix, expect the shows to be a straightforward band performance in theatre-sized rooms rather than a big production.
Tickets for all six shows have been on sale since Tuesday 12 May 2026, and the tour is listed as on sale. No presale details were part of the information available for this page. Buy through the authorised ticketing outlet named by each venue or at the venue's own box office.
Several of these rooms are small: the Powerstation holds about 1,000 and The Gov is a pub venue. If a date sells out, use only the official resale facility attached to the original ticket. Mobile tickets are often linked to the buyer's account and name, so buy through the official outlet or its official resale service to make sure the ticket is in your name.
There is no public PiL presale code to buy or trade, and offers of "guaranteed" tickets or codes on social media should be ignored. To be told about any added show or released tickets, sign up below for the alert.
When does PiL's 2027 Australia and New Zealand tour start?
At the Powerstation in Auckland on Wednesday 20 January 2027.
Which Australian cities are included?
Brisbane (The Tivoli, 22 January), Sydney (Enmore Theatre, 23 January), Melbourne (Forum Melbourne, 24 January), Adelaide (The Gov, 26 January) and Perth (Astor Theatre, 28 January).
Is there more than one New Zealand show?
No. Auckland on 20 January 2027 is the only New Zealand date announced.
Who is the support act?
No support act had been announced as of 9 October 2026.
When did PiL last play Australia?
In April 2013, at The Hi-Fi in Brisbane, the Enmore Theatre in Sydney and the Palace Theatre in Melbourne.
Have PiL played Perth before?
Not according to the setlist.fm archive; the Astor Theatre on 28 January 2027 is their first recorded Perth concert.
When did tickets go on sale?
On Tuesday 12 May 2026.
When were PiL last in New Zealand?
At the Powerstation in Auckland on 1 and 2 September 1989.
Is John Lydon still in the band?
Yes. Lydon has been the only constant member since PiL formed in 1978.
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