Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027

Sons of Zion have not announced any concerts in Australia or New Zealand for 2027. As of 9 October 2026 there is no 2027 tour, headline show or festival booking for the Auckland reggae band on either side of the Tasman, and no sale information has been published.

Formed in 2007 in Pakuranga, in East Auckland, Sons of Zion became one of the most popular bands in New Zealand in 2018 thanks to 'Drift Away', which topped the chart of New Zealand artists and has been certified five times platinum. Their albums Universal Love (2013) and Vantage Point (2018) and the compilation First XV (2022) all reached the New Zealand top 20.

This page explains what is and is not known about 2027 and gives a full account of the band's documented concerts in New Zealand, from San Fran in Wellington and The Factory in Hamilton to summer stages up and down the country, and in Australia, from Sydney's Factory Theatre in 2019 to the national tour of 2025.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: what is announced so far

There is no official information about Sons of Zion concerts in Australia or New Zealand in 2027. No dates, venues or sale times have been announced, and the band's name does not appear on any 2027 festival line-up published so far. Any list of 2027 dates or any 'presale code' circulating now should be treated with suspicion.

The latest Australian tour in the setlist archive took place in March and April 2025: nine shows that opened at the Burleigh Town Hotel on the Gold Coast on Friday 21 March and went to the Beenleigh Tavern, the Kings Beach Tavern in Caloundra, the Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide, the Prince Bandroom in Melbourne, the Newcastle Hotel, Liberty Hall in Sydney and Metropolis Fremantle, before closing at LOOP in Perth on Saturday 26 April 2025. The latest New Zealand date in the archive is Claudelands Oval in Hamilton on 14 March 2026.

The band's touring follows a regular pattern: New Zealand summer dates around Christmas and New Year, outdoor shows through January to March, a winter club tour of New Zealand in July or August, and Australian visits every year or two. That is a description of the past, not an announcement for 2027.

Until the band or a promoter publishes dates, there is no confirmed Sons of Zion concert in Australia or New Zealand for 2027. Sign up below and we will send an alert when that changes.

Before the Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: Australia/NZ concert history

Sons of Zion began as a youth band at Edgewater College in Pakuranga, and their first big stage was the Soundsplash Festival in Raglan in 2007, where they won a competition to open the event. After their self-titled debut album in October 2009 they spent several years touring New Zealand and Australia, according to Wikipedia. The setlist archive documents their concerts from September 2017, when they played The Cabana in Napier and San Fran in Wellington.

The summer of 2017–18 took them to the Black Barn Amphitheatre in Hastings, McEwan Park in Lower Hutt on Boxing Day, Cooks Reserve in Riwaka near Motueka, Butlers Reef in New Plymouth, the Raglan Club, the Spa Hotel in Taupō and Wharepai Domain in Tauranga. With Vantage Point out in May 2018 they toured the main New Zealand cities that winter: The Factory in Hamilton, Totara Street in Mount Maunganui, San Fran in Wellington, the Powerstation in Auckland on 31 August, the Turner Centre in Kerikeri, U-Bar in Dunedin and The Foundry in Christchurch, followed by The Royal in Palmerston North and The Cabana in October.

In 2019 the band played Western Springs Stadium in Auckland on 23 February, the Wellington Waterfront in March, and a winter tour from The Mayfair in New Plymouth and Good Home in Christchurch to Totara Street, the Powerstation, The Factory, San Fran and Coronet Peak above Queenstown on 31 August. Their first Australian date in the archive is the Factory Theatre in Sydney on Saturday 5 October 2019, and they returned for Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast on 1 February 2020.

With borders shut, 2020 and 2021 were spent at home: a winter tour in July and August 2020 through Rotorua's Village Green, Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua, the Hawke's Bay Racing Centre, The Factory and Soper Reserve, the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland in December, and a summer that included Butlers Reef, Rotorua, Opononi, Mount Maunganui, the Coroglen Tavern and Wharepai Domain. In 2022 they played The Factory in August and McLean Park in Napier in November.

Australia came back into the picture in 2023, with Red Hill Auditorium in Perth on 3 February and Eatons Hill near Brisbane on 5 February, then the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane and the Plaza Tavern in Melbourne in August. In February 2024 they played Parramatta Park in Sydney and the Riverstage in Brisbane, and in 2025 came the nine-date national tour. At home, 2024 brought a winter tour from The Boiler Room in Whakatāne and Bev Ridges on York in Napier to Castle 789 in Palmerston North, San Fran, Totara Street and The Factory, and a South Island run in September through Errick's in Dunedin, the Boiler House in Timaru and the Ngaio Marsh Theatre in Christchurch.

The table below lists 96 documented Australia/NZ concerts by Sons of Zion between 2017 and 2026, with the most shows in Wellington (8), Mount Maunganui (8), Hamilton (7), Napier (5), Auckland (5), Brisbane (4). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.

Concert data: setlist.fm

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027 and Australia/NZ festivals

Festival stages have been part of Sons of Zion's story from the start: their first notable gig was opening the Soundsplash Festival in Raglan in 2007, which they won through a competition. In the setlist archive they appear at the Wellington Waterfront, home of the Homegrown festival, in March 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and at summer outdoor sites such as Soper Reserve and Trustpower Stadium in Mount Maunganui, Wharepai Domain in Tauranga, Trafalgar Park in Nelson, Semenoff Stadium in Whangārei, Parrs Park in Auckland and Manfeild in Feilding.

In Australia their outdoor dates include Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast in February 2020, Red Hill Auditorium in Perth in February 2023, and Parramatta Park in Sydney and the Riverstage in Brisbane in February 2024.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: career and records

Sam Eriwata and Joel Latimer grew up together in Auckland and formed a youth band at Edgewater College in Pakuranga. They met Rio Panapa, originally from Rotorua, through church services, and the original line-up of Panapa on vocals and guitar, Eriwata on drums, Latimer on keyboards and bassist Dylan Stewart rushed out an EP to sell at Soundsplash in 2007. Eriwata soon became a second lead vocalist, with Tawhiri Littlejohn taking over the drums.

The self-titled debut album came out in October 2009. 'Good Love' (2012) and 'Tell Her' (2013) were the band's first charting singles in New Zealand, and the second album, Universal Love (2013), reached No. 3. In 2014 their video with Tomorrow People won best video at the Waiata Māori Music Awards, and they joined Katchafire and other reggae artists on a charity cover of 'Sensitive to a Smile'.

'Stuck on Stupid' (2015) found an international audience online, especially in Hawaii, where it was a local radio hit, and songs such as 'I'm Ready', 'Fill Me Up' and 'Now' became staples of Australasian reggae playlists. By 2015 the line-up had settled around Eriwata, Panapa, Latimer, bassist Matt Sadgrove, Caleb Haapu and Ross Nansen. In 2017 they opened their own studio, No Filter Studios in Auckland, and produced Maimoa's viral te reo hit 'Wairua'.

For Vantage Point (2018) the members quit their day jobs to work on the band full time. 'Drift Away' became their breakthrough, reaching No. 17 on the main New Zealand chart and No. 1 among New Zealand artists, and the album went platinum. 'Love on the Run' with Jackson Owens (2021) was another No. 1 among New Zealand artists, and the compilation First XV (2022) reached No. 9 and went gold.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: Auckland and the North

Sons of Zion are an East Auckland band, and the city has seen them in every size of room: the Powerstation in 2018 and 2019, Western Springs Stadium in 2019, the Logan Campbell Centre in December 2020 and Parrs Park in February 2024.

Northland is a regular stop too. The archive lists the Opononi Hotel on the Hokianga Harbour in December 2019, 2020 and 2024, the Ruakaka Tavern in 2019 and 2024, the Turner Centre in Kerikeri in 2018, Semenoff Stadium in Whangārei in 2020 and the Waipapakauri Hotel near Kaitaia in April 2024. Several members are of Ngāpuhi descent, the iwi of much of Northland.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: Wellington and the South Island

In Wellington the band's home venue is San Fran on Cuba Street, played in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2024, along with the Wellington Waterfront in March in most recent years and Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua in 2020.

Their South Island trips have taken in U-Bar and Errick's in Dunedin, The Foundry, Good Home and the Ngaio Marsh Theatre in Christchurch, the Boiler House in Timaru, Coronet Peak in Queenstown and Trafalgar Park in Nelson.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: building an Australian audience

Australia has been a slower build than New Zealand. After the Factory Theatre in Sydney in 2019, most of the band's Australian dates until 2024 were one-off shows, often in summer outdoor settings in Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney, or in suburban taverns such as the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane and the Plaza Tavern in Melbourne.

The 2025 tour was their most complete Australian run in the archive, with stops in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, from the Gold Coast to Perth. Its venues, such as the Prince Bandroom in Melbourne, Liberty Hall in Sydney and LOOP in Perth, are mid-sized clubs. No 2027 Australian date has been announced.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: the summer circuit

Like Katchafire, who turn up at many of the same venues, Sons of Zion follow the New Zealand summer circuit: Butlers Reef in New Plymouth, the Coroglen Tavern on the Coromandel, Rotorua's Village Green, Soper Reserve in Mount Maunganui and Wharepai Domain in Tauranga all appear several times between Christmas and February.

Whether the band will play the 2026–27 summer in New Zealand has not been announced as of 9 October 2026.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: what to expect live

Sons of Zion's live show is built on two lead vocalists, Rio Panapa and Sam Eriwata, trading lines over a full reggae and pop band, with the songs that made their name online, such as 'Drift Away', 'Stuck on Stupid', 'I'm Ready', 'Fill Me Up' and 'Love on the Run', at its core.

Very few of their Australian and New Zealand shows have a documented set list in the archive. The only song recorded for their Wellington Waterfront set of 16 March 2024 is 'Help Me Out', so it is not possible to describe a typical running order with confidence.

Club tours such as the 2018 winter run or the 2025 Australian dates are full-length headline shows, while summer festival appearances are usually shorter sets on shared bills.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027 tickets and presales

No sale information exists for Sons of Zion concerts in Australia or New Zealand in 2027, because no concerts have been announced. There is no presale, no general sale date and no presale code.

When dates appear, buy from the official outlet named in the announcement or directly from the venue; many of the band's Australian shows are in taverns and clubs that sell their own tickets, and some are 18+. Venues increasingly use name-locked mobile tickets, so buy through the official outlet or its official resale service to make sure the ticket is in your name.

Sign up below for the alert and we will email you as soon as Sons of Zion confirm 2027 dates in Australia or New Zealand.

Sons of Zion Australia Tour 2027: questions and answers

Are Sons of Zion touring Australia in 2027?

Not as of 9 October 2026. No 2027 dates have been announced in Australia or New Zealand.

When did Sons of Zion last tour Australia?

The latest Australian tour in the setlist archive ran from the Burleigh Town Hotel on the Gold Coast on 21 March to LOOP in Perth on 26 April 2025.

When did they last play New Zealand?

The latest New Zealand date in the archive is Claudelands Oval in Hamilton on 14 March 2026.

Where are Sons of Zion from?

Pakuranga in East Auckland, where the band formed in 2007.

What is their biggest song?

'Drift Away' (2018), a No. 1 among New Zealand artists and certified five times platinum.

Which Sydney venues have they played?

The Factory Theatre (2019), Parramatta Park (2024) and Liberty Hall (2025), according to the setlist archive.

Have they played with Katchafire?

They joined Katchafire on the 2014 charity single 'Sensitive to a Smile', and both bands appear at many of the same New Zealand summer venues.

Is there a Sons of Zion presale code for 2027?

No. Without announced dates there is no presale. Sign up below for the alert.