The Fray return to Australia and New Zealand in February 2027 with the Summer of Light Tour, their first run in the region since the 20th-anniversary shows for How to Save a Life in December 2025. The headline dates open at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on Friday 5 February 2027 and finish at Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland on Wednesday 17 February.
In between come Waves in Wollongong on Wednesday 10 February and the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on Thursday 11 February. Dashboard Confessional and Rachael Fahim are on the bill, and tickets have been on sale since Thursday 10 September 2026. These are the band's own headline dates; The Fray also play the Lookout festival series during the same trip.
Below you will find the confirmed dates and venues, a night-by-night summary and more than twenty years of Fray concerts in Australia and New Zealand as documented by setlist.fm, from club shows in 2006 to arenas in 2012 and the anniversary tour of 2025.
The Summer of Light Tour follows A Light That Waits, released on 13 March 2026. It was the band's first full-length album in twelve years and their first as a trio, with guitarist Joe King as lead vocalist alongside guitarist Dave Welsh and drummer Ben Wysocki. Isaac Slade, the original singer, left the group in 2022.
Melbourne opens the headline run on Friday 5 February 2027 at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne Park, the band's biggest Melbourne room since Rod Laver Arena in 2012. The tour then moves to New South Wales for Waves in Wollongong on Wednesday 10 February, the band's first documented show in the Illawarra, and the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on Thursday 11 February.
New Zealand closes the headline dates at Eventfinda Stadium on Auckland's North Shore on Wednesday 17 February 2027. It is the band's first Auckland show since the Powerstation in March 2009, nearly eighteen years earlier. Dashboard Confessional, the American emo band led by Chris Carrabba, and Rachael Fahim are named as support for the tour.
The gaps between headline dates leave room for the band's Lookout festival appearances, which are listed separately. As of 9 October 2026 no headline show is announced for Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide, which all saw The Fray on earlier tours.
Margaret Court Arena is a multi-purpose arena in the Melbourne Park sports and entertainment precinct, next to Rod Laver Arena. Opened in 1988 as Show Court One, it was redeveloped in the mid-2010s with a retractable roof and hosts concerts as well as Australian Open tennis.
Waves is a live music and entertainment venue in Wollongong, the coastal city about 80 kilometres south of Sydney. It hosts touring bands and club nights for audiences from the Illawarra region.
The Hordern Pavilion is a heritage-listed exhibition and concert hall at Moore Park in Sydney, built in 1924 for the Royal Easter Show. Since the show moved to Homebush in 1998 it has been one of the city's main mid-size concert venues.
Eventfinda Stadium is an indoor arena on Auckland's North Shore, formerly known as the North Shore Events Centre. It hosts basketball, community events and concerts.
Friday 5 February 2027 — Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne. Their most recent documented Melbourne show was at Forum Theatre on 9 December 2025. This is the opening night of the run.
Wednesday 10 February 2027 — Waves, Wollongong.
Thursday 11 February 2027 — Hordern Pavilion, Sydney. The Fray last played Hordern Pavilion on 24 March 2009.
Wednesday 17 February 2027 — Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland. In Auckland, the last documented The Fray concert was at Powerstation (26 March 2009). This venue closes the tour.
The Fray's first documented trip to the region came in September 2006, while How to Save a Life was climbing the charts. They played Studio The Venue in Auckland on 4 September, appeared on the television show Rove Live in Melbourne the next day, then played The Prince of Wales in St Kilda on 6 September and The Gaelic Club in Sydney on 8 September 2006. Those were small rooms for a band about to have a number two single in Australia.
By March 2009 'You Found Me' had become their first Australian number one, and the self-titled second album was in the top three. That tour opened at the Metro City in Perth on 17 March, then went to the Palace Theatre in Melbourne on 20 March, The Tivoli in Brisbane on 21 March and the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney on 24 March, with a performance on So You Think You Can Dance in between. They crossed to Auckland's Powerstation on 26 March 2009 for a 17-song set.
They were back a year later. In late March and early April 2010 they played the Big Top at Luna Park in Sydney on 30 March, Festival Hall in Melbourne on 1 April and the Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide on 3 April, where setlist.fm records a 23-song show, the longest in their Australian archive. On 5 April 2010 they appeared at Bluesfest at the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm near Byron Bay.
The Scars & Stories tour of September and October 2012 was their arena tour of Australia: the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on 25 September, an intimate show at The Basement in Sydney on 26 September, the Sydney Entertainment Centre on 27 September, Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on 1 October, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on 3 October and Challenge Stadium in Perth on 5 October 2012. In between, in November 2011, they had performed on The X Factor Australia.
After thirteen years away from Australian stages, the How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour arrived in December 2025, with King on lead vocals. It played the Metro City in Perth on 3 December, Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane on 5 December, the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on 6 and 10 December and the Forum Theatre in Melbourne on 7 and 9 December 2025, before ending in Manila on 12 December.
Two early Melbourne entries on setlist.fm, dated 2003 and 2004, have been left out of the table because they predate the band's record deal and cannot be confirmed. Without them, Sydney leads the documented history, ahead of Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, and Auckland has two documented shows.
The table below lists 24 documented Australia/NZ concerts by The Fray between 2006 and 2025, with the most shows in Sydney (8), Melbourne (6), Brisbane (3), Perth (3), Adelaide (2), Byron Bay (1). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.
| Date | City | Venue | Tour / event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 December 2025 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour |
| 9 December 2025 | Melbourne | Forum Theatre | How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour |
| 7 December 2025 | Melbourne | Forum Theatre | How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour |
| 6 December 2025 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour |
| 5 December 2025 | Brisbane | Eatons Hill Hotel & Function Centre | How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour |
| 3 December 2025 | Perth | Metro City Concert Club | How to Save a Life: The 20th Anniversary Tour |
| 5 October 2012 | Perth | Challenge Stadium | Scars & Stories |
| 3 October 2012 | Adelaide | Adelaide Entertainment Centre | Scars & Stories |
| 1 October 2012 | Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena | Scars & Stories |
| 27 September 2012 | Sydney | Sydney Entertainment Centre | Scars & Stories |
| 26 September 2012 | Sydney | The Basement | Scars & Stories |
| 25 September 2012 | Brisbane | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Scars & Stories |
| 5 April 2010 | Byron Bay | Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm | |
| 3 April 2010 | Adelaide | Thebarton Theatre | The Fray |
| 1 April 2010 | Melbourne | Festival Hall | |
| 30 March 2010 | Sydney | Big Top Luna Park | |
| 27 March 2009 | Sydney | Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre | |
| 26 March 2009 | Auckland | Powerstation | |
| 24 March 2009 | Sydney | Hordern Pavilion | |
| 21 March 2009 | Brisbane | The Tivoli | |
| 20 March 2009 | Melbourne | Palace Theatre | |
| 17 March 2009 | Perth | Metro City Concert Club | |
| 8 September 2006 | Sydney | The Gaelic Club | |
| 6 September 2006 | Melbourne | The Prince of Wales |
Concert data: setlist.fm
Across the 11 most recent documented Australia/NZ concerts with a full song list (26 March 2009 to 10 December 2025), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.
The Fray's only documented Australian festival appearance is Bluesfest, at the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm near Byron Bay, on 5 April 2010, at the end of a short club and theatre tour.
In 2027 the band combine their headline Summer of Light dates with appearances on the Lookout festival series. The headline shows on this page are separate from those festival dates.
The Fray formed in Denver, Colorado, in 2002, when former schoolmates Isaac Slade and Joe King began writing together. Drummer Ben Wysocki and guitarist Dave Welsh, who had played with them in church worship bands, completed the line-up. A demo of 'Cable Car' became a request favourite on Denver radio station KTCL, and Epic Records signed the band on 17 December 2004.
How to Save a Life was released on 13 September 2005. 'Over My Head (Cable Car)' reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and the title track, boosted by Grey's Anatomy, peaked at number three in the US and number two in Australia. The album topped the Australian chart and went platinum in Australia and New Zealand.
The self-titled second album (2009) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and reached number three in Australia, where 'You Found Me' became the band's first number one single. Scars & Stories (2012), produced by Brendan O'Brien, and Helios (2014) followed, reaching 18 and 21 in Australia. A greatest hits album, Through the Years, closed their Epic contract in 2016.
Slade left in 2022, playing his last show with the band in May that year. The remaining members returned as a trio with the EP The Fray Is Back in September 2024, with King on lead vocals, toured the world for the 20th anniversary of their debut in 2025 and released A Light That Waits on 13 March 2026.
| Album | Year | AUS chart peak |
|---|---|---|
| How to Save a Life | 2005 | AUS 1 |
| The Fray | 2009 | AUS 3 |
| Scars & Stories | 2012 | AUS 18 |
| Helios | 2014 | AUS 21 |
| A Light That Waits | 2026 | — |
Few markets embraced The Fray as early as Australia. How to Save a Life topped the Australian album chart, a higher peak than it reached in the United States, and its title track climbed to number two. In 2009 'You Found Me' went to number one in Australia, the band's first chart-topping single anywhere.
That success is visible in the touring record: four visits in seven years between 2006 and 2012, rising from the Gaelic Club and the Prince of Wales to Rod Laver Arena and the Sydney and Brisbane Entertainment Centres. The anniversary tour in 2025 played theatre-sized rooms, and the 2027 dates bring the band back to an arena in Melbourne.
The Summer of Light Tour starts at Margaret Court Arena on Friday 5 February 2027. The arena is part of the Melbourne Park precinct, next to Rod Laver Arena, where the band played on 1 October 2012.
Melbourne has seen The Fray in many rooms: the Prince of Wales in 2006, the Palace Theatre in 2009, Festival Hall in 2010, Rod Laver Arena in 2012 and two nights at the Forum Theatre in December 2025. A Friday opening night in a mid-size arena gives the tour a strong start.
Wollongong is new territory. Waves, on Wednesday 10 February 2027, is the first documented Fray show in the city, about 80 kilometres south of Sydney on the coast. It gives fans in the Illawarra and the South Coast a date close to home.
Sydney follows the next night, Thursday 11 February, at the Hordern Pavilion. The band headlined the Hordern on 24 March 2009 and have since played the Big Top at Luna Park, the Sydney Entertainment Centre, The Basement and two nights at the Enmore Theatre in December 2025. The Hordern is the only Sydney headline date announced.
Auckland has waited a long time. The Fray's only documented New Zealand concerts are Studio The Venue on 4 September 2006 and the Powerstation on 26 March 2009, where they played 17 songs. How to Save a Life peaked at number two on the New Zealand album chart, so the gap is not for lack of interest.
The 2027 show on Wednesday 17 February is at Eventfinda Stadium on the North Shore, a larger room than either earlier venue. It is the last headline date of the tour and the only New Zealand show announced.
The anniversary shows in December 2025 ran to 18 to 20 songs. They opened with How to Save a Life played in full, all twelve tracks from 'She Is' to 'Trust Me', including 'She Is', 'All at Once', 'Vienna', 'Heaven Forbid' and 'Look After You' alongside 'Over My Head (Cable Car)' and the title track, followed by 'Hurricane', 'Heartbeat', 'You Found Me' and a closing 'Never Say Never'.
Across all documented Australian and New Zealand shows the most played songs are 'You Found Me', 'Over My Head (Cable Car)' and 'How to Save a Life', followed by 'All at Once' and 'Never Say Never'. With Joe King now singing lead, the piano parts that defined the early records are still at the centre of the arrangements.
The Summer of Light shows are expected to lean more on A Light That Waits than the anniversary tour did, while keeping the singles that made the band's name in Australia.
Tickets for the Summer of Light Tour headline dates have been on sale since Thursday 10 September 2026, through the authorised ticket agencies for each venue, including AXS for some shows, and the venues' own box offices. Dashboard Confessional and Rachael Fahim are the announced support acts.
Buy only through the official outlets named by each venue. Most tickets are mobile and linked to the buyer's account, so buy through the official outlet or its official resale service to make sure the ticket is in your name. Tickets for the Lookout festival dates are sold separately from these headline shows.
There is no live presale for these dates, so any 'presale code' offered online should be ignored. Sign up below for the alert to hear about extra shows or released tickets.
When does The Fray's 2027 Australian tour start?
On Friday 5 February 2027 at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.
What are the headline dates?
Melbourne, Margaret Court Arena (Friday 5 February), Wollongong, Waves (Wednesday 10 February), Sydney, Hordern Pavilion (Thursday 11 February) and Auckland, Eventfinda Stadium (Wednesday 17 February 2027).
Who is supporting The Fray?
Dashboard Confessional and Rachael Fahim are named as support for the Summer of Light Tour.
Is The Fray playing New Zealand?
Yes, Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland on Wednesday 17 February 2027, their first Auckland show since March 2009.
Are tickets on sale?
Yes, since Thursday 10 September 2026.
Is Isaac Slade still in the band?
No. Slade left in 2022. Joe King now sings lead, with Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki.
When did The Fray last play Australia?
In December 2025 on the 20th anniversary tour: Perth, Brisbane, two nights at the Enmore in Sydney and two at the Forum in Melbourne.
Are there Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide headline dates?
Not as of 9 October 2026. The band played Brisbane and Perth in December 2025 and last played Adelaide in October 2012.
What album are they touring?
A Light That Waits, released on 13 March 2026, their first album as a trio.
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