The Human League return to Australia and New Zealand in the southern summer of 2027. The Greatest Hits Tour opens at Perth HPC on Wednesday 27 January 2027 and closes at Christchurch Town Hall on Thursday 18 February, ten shows in eight cities over a little more than three weeks.
Seven of the dates are in Australia: Perth, two nights at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, two nights at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne and The Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane. The band then cross the Tasman for three New Zealand shows, at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Auckland, the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington and Christchurch Town Hall.
It is a theatre tour rather than an arena run, which suits a group whose Australian story began in May 1982, when Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley brought the Dare songs to Festival Hall in Brisbane, the Palais in St Kilda and the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. Tickets have been on sale since Friday 6 February 2026.
The Australian and New Zealand dates were announced well ahead of time: tickets went on sale on Friday 6 February 2026, almost a year before the opening night. The Wikipedia history of the band notes that after the Generations arena tour of Europe in late 2024 and festival dates in 2025, they announced further touring that takes in America in 2026 and Australia and New Zealand in 2027. Locally the run is billed as the Greatest Hits Tour, and the title is a fair description of what the band have played here on recent visits.
The route runs from west to east and then across the Tasman. Perth comes first, on Wednesday 27 January, followed by a Sydney weekend at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 January. Adelaide follows on Wednesday 3 February, then Melbourne gets a Friday and Saturday pair at the Palais Theatre on 5 and 6 February. Brisbane closes the Australian leg on Tuesday 9 February at The Fortitude Music Hall.
New Zealand gets three nights, one more city than on the band's last proper headline visit in 2017. Auckland's Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in the Aotea Centre hosts the first on Saturday 13 February, Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre follows on Tuesday 16 February and Christchurch Town Hall has the final show on Thursday 18 February 2027.
No support act had been listed for the tour as of 9 October 2026, and no extra dates had been added since the original announcement. The venue list is close to the one used in March 2024, when the band played the Enmore, the Palais and the Fortitude Music Hall, which suggests the promoters know exactly what size of room this audience fills.
Perth HPC (Perth High Performance Centre) opened in 1986 as the Superdome in Mount Claremont, west of central Perth, and was later known as Challenge Stadium and HBF Stadium. Its main arena seats about 4,500 and the complex also includes an Olympic-standard aquatic centre.
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 theatre configuration of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Port Road in Hindmarsh, seating about 3,000. The centre opened in July 1991 because international tours had been bypassing Adelaide for lack of a large indoor venue.
The Palais Theatre on the Lower Esplanade in St Kilda opened in 1927 and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. With 2,896 seats it is described as the largest seated theatre in Australia, behind a Spanish Baroque-style facade and a neoclassical interior.
The Fortitude Music Hall opened in July 2019 on the Brunswick Street Mall in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. It holds about 3,000 people standing and was built to fill the gap for a mid-sized concert hall in the city.
The Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre is the main auditorium of the Aotea Centre, which opened in 1990 on Aotea Square off Queen Street in central Auckland. It seats 2,139 and was known as the ASB Theatre until 2019, when it was renamed after the New Zealand opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
The Michael Fowler Centre on Wakefield Street in Wellington opened in September 1983. Designed by Warren and Mahoney and named after the former mayor Sir Michael Fowler, its main auditorium seats about 2,209 for concerts.
Christchurch Town Hall, designed by Warren and Mahoney, opened on 30 September 1972 on the banks of the Avon River overlooking Victoria Square. Closed after the February 2011 earthquake, it reopened in 2019; its main auditorium seats about 2,250.
Wednesday 27 January 2027 — Perth HPC, Perth. In Perth, the last documented The Human League concert was at Astor Theatre (17 March 2024). The tour starts here.
Saturday 30 January 2027 — Enmore Theatre, Sydney. 2 nights are booked at Enmore Theatre; this is number 1. The Human League last played Enmore Theatre on 13 March 2024.
Wednesday 3 February 2027 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide. The Human League last played Adelaide Entertainment Centre on 8 November 2003 (Here and Now).
Friday 5 February 2027 — Palais Theatre, Melbourne. 2 nights are booked at Palais Theatre; this is number 1. Their previous show at this venue was on 14 March 2024.
Tuesday 9 February 2027 — The Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane. Their previous show at this venue was on 6 March 2024.
Saturday 13 February 2027 — Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Auckland. Their most recent documented Auckland show was at Eventfinda Stadium on 29 February 2024.
Tuesday 16 February 2027 — Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington.
Thursday 18 February 2027 — Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch. This venue closes the tour.
The Human League first toured Australia in May 1982, at the height of the Dare era, when "Don't You Want Me" had just been a worldwide number one. The setlist.fm archive lists two nights at Brisbane Festival Hall on 18 and 20 May, the Palais Theatre in Melbourne on 21 May, Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide on 23 May, and then two Sydney shows, at the Capitol Theatre on 25 May and the Hordern Pavilion on 26 May. The Hordern set opened with "You're My Baby" and "Open Your Heart", took in "Circus of Death", "Empire State Human" and "Marianne" from the pre-Dare years, and closed with "Destination Venus".
The band came back in November 2003 as part of the Here and Now package of 1980s acts, which put them in arenas: the Burswood Dome in Perth on 6 November, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on 8 November, Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on 10 November, the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on 15 November and the Sydney Entertainment Centre on 17 November. On a shared bill the set was short; the Sydney list shows six songs, from "Hard Times" and "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" to "Together in Electric Dreams".
In March and April 2009 they returned with a mix of outdoor and club dates. Saturday 28 March was spent at Centennial Park in Sydney, followed by the Avica Resort on the Gold Coast on 29 March. In Melbourne they played Billboard The Venue on 3 April, a date the archive tags as the Australian Dare Tour 2009, and the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds the next day, before finishing at Claremont Showground in Perth on 5 April. The Centennial Park set dug deep into Dare, with "Darkness", "Do or Die", "I Am the Law" and the "Get Carter" theme alongside the hits.
December 2017 brought the first full headline tour in years and the first New Zealand date in the archive: the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland on 6 December. The Australian leg followed at Perth Arena on 9 December, Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide on 11 December, the Palais Theatre in Melbourne on 13 December, the State Theatre in Sydney on 15 December, The Star Gold Coast on 16 December and The Tivoli in Brisbane on 17 December.
The most recent visit was in early 2024. New Zealand came first, with Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland on Thursday 29 February, Lincoln Domain near Christchurch on 2 March and Brewtown in Upper Hutt on 3 March. The Australian theatre run began at the Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane on Wednesday 6 March, then went to the Enmore Theatre in Sydney (8 and 13 March), the Palais Theatre in Melbourne (9 and 14 March), the AEC Theatre in Adelaide (11 March) and two nights at the Astor Theatre in Perth on 16 and 17 March. Wikipedia counts it as a nine-date tour of Australia plus summer festival dates.
Put together, the archive records more than thirty Australian and New Zealand concerts across five decades. The Palais in St Kilda is the thread that runs through them: the band played there in 1982, 2017 and twice in 2024, and the two 2027 nights will take that to six.
The table below lists 34 documented Australia/NZ concerts by The Human League between 1982 and 2024, with the most shows in Melbourne (7), Sydney (7), Perth (5), Brisbane (5), Adelaide (4), Auckland (2). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.
| Date | City | Venue | Tour / event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 March 2024 | Perth | Astor Theatre | |
| 16 March 2024 | Perth | Astor Theatre | |
| 14 March 2024 | Melbourne | Palais Theatre | |
| 13 March 2024 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | |
| 11 March 2024 | Adelaide | AEC Theatre | |
| 9 March 2024 | Melbourne | Palais Theatre | |
| 8 March 2024 | Sydney | Enmore Theatre | |
| 6 March 2024 | Brisbane | Fortitude Music Hall | |
| 3 March 2024 | Upper Hutt | Brewtown Upper Hutt | |
| 2 March 2024 | Lincoln | Lincoln Domain | |
| 29 February 2024 | Auckland | Eventfinda Stadium | |
| 17 December 2017 | Brisbane | The Tivoli | |
| 16 December 2017 | Gold Coast | The Star Gold Coast | |
| 15 December 2017 | Sydney | State Theatre | |
| 13 December 2017 | Melbourne | Palais Theatre | |
| 11 December 2017 | Adelaide | Thebarton Theatre | |
| 9 December 2017 | Perth | Perth Arena | |
| 6 December 2017 | Auckland | Logan Campbell Centre | |
| 5 April 2009 | Perth | Claremont Showground | |
| 4 April 2009 | Melbourne | Royal Melbourne Showgrounds | |
| 3 April 2009 | Melbourne | Billboard The Venue | Australian Dare Tour 2009 |
| 29 March 2009 | Gold Coast | Avica Resort | |
| 28 March 2009 | Sydney | Centennial Park | Australia Tour 2009 |
| 17 November 2003 | Sydney | Sydney Entertainment Centre | Here and Now |
| 15 November 2003 | Brisbane | Brisbane Entertainment Centre | Here and Now |
| 10 November 2003 | Melbourne | Rod Laver Arena | Here and Now |
| 8 November 2003 | Adelaide | Adelaide Entertainment Centre | Here and Now |
| 6 November 2003 | Perth | Burswood Dome | Here and Now |
| 26 May 1982 | Sydney | Hordern Pavilion | |
| 25 May 1982 | Sydney | Capitol Theatre | |
| 23 May 1982 | Adelaide | Thebarton Theatre | |
| 21 May 1982 | Melbourne | Palais Theatre | |
| 20 May 1982 | Brisbane | Brisbane Festival Hall | |
| 18 May 1982 | Brisbane | Brisbane Festival Hall |
Concert data: setlist.fm
Across the 15 most recent documented Australia/NZ concerts with a full song list (11 December 2017 to 16 March 2024), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.
The Human League's Australian and New Zealand record is mostly headline and package shows, but several dates were in the open air. In 2009 they played Centennial Park in Sydney, the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds and Claremont Showground in Perth, and in 2024 the New Zealand leg included Lincoln Domain in Canterbury and Brewtown in Upper Hutt. The data does not name the events behind those dates, so we do not either.
Abroad the band are regular festival headliners; Wikipedia lists the V Festival in 2004 and 2009, Benicàssim in 2007 and the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena in 2023. The 2027 Australian and New Zealand dates announced so far are all their own theatre shows; no festival appearance had been announced as of 9 October 2026.
The Human League formed in Sheffield in 1977. Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, two computer operators who had bought a Korg synthesiser together, recruited Ware's old school friend Philip Oakey, then a hospital porter, as singer, and Adrian Wright joined as director of visuals. Their first single, "Being Boiled", came out on the independent Fast Product label in 1978, and Virgin signed them in 1979. The albums Reproduction (1979) and Travelogue (1980) won critical praise but modest sales.
In 1980 Marsh and Ware left to form Heaven 17. With a tour only ten days away, Oakey recruited two teenage friends he had seen dancing at the Crazy Daisy nightclub in Sheffield, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, plus Ian Burden, and later Jo Callis. The new line-up made Dare (1981), produced by Martin Rushent, with "The Sound of the Crowd", "Love Action (I Believe in Love)", "Open Your Heart" and "Don't You Want Me", a number one in Britain and the United States. The band won the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982.
"Mirror Man" and "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" followed as stand-alone singles, then Hysteria (1984) with "The Lebanon" and "Louise". Oakey also scored a separate hit with Giorgio Moroder, "Together in Electric Dreams", which the band later adopted as their usual closing song. Crash (1986), recorded in Minneapolis with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, gave them a second US number one with "Human". Romantic? (1990) was their last Virgin album, but Octopus (1995) and "Tell Me When" took them back into the UK top ten.
Since the 1990s the group has been a trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley with touring musicians. They released Secrets (2001) and Credo (2011), but their reputation now rests on the stage: the band refuse to use playback, and big anniversary tours such as Dare 2007, XXXV, the Red Tour and Dare 40 have filled halls across Europe. They had sold more than 20 million records by 2010 and are counted among the leading acts of the 1980s Second British Invasion of America.
| Album | Year | AUS chart peak |
|---|---|---|
| Reproduction | 1979 | — |
| Travelogue | 1980 | — |
| Dare | 1981 | AUS 3 |
| Hysteria | 1984 | AUS 18 |
| Crash | 1986 | AUS 32 |
| Romantic? | 1990 | AUS 115 |
| Octopus | 1995 | — |
| Secrets | 2001 | — |
| Credo | 2011 | — |
Few overseas bands have a longer relationship with one Melbourne room. The Palais Theatre on the Lower Esplanade in St Kilda, opened in 1927 and described as the largest seated theatre in Australia, hosted the Human League on 21 May 1982, during their first Australian tour, and again on 13 December 2017.
In March 2024 they played it twice, on 9 and 14 March, either side of their Sydney and Adelaide shows. The 2027 tour repeats the double booking, this time on consecutive nights: Friday 5 and Saturday 6 February. For Melbourne fans who saw the band there in 1982, the 2027 shows come almost 45 years later in the same seats.
Sydney has seen the band in very different rooms: the Capitol Theatre and the Hordern Pavilion in 1982, the Sydney Entertainment Centre on the Here and Now bill in 2003, Centennial Park in 2009, the State Theatre in 2017 and the Enmore Theatre twice in March 2024.
The Enmore in Newtown, about 1,700 seated or 2,500 standing, is the venue again in 2027, with a Saturday and a Sunday, 30 and 31 January. Having both shows on a weekend should help fans who travel in from the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains or Wollongong.
New Zealand came late to the Human League's touring map. The first local date in the archive is the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland in December 2017, and the 2024 visit added Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland, Lincoln Domain in Canterbury and Brewtown in Upper Hutt.
The 2027 New Zealand leg moves into concert halls. The Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, the main auditorium of Auckland's Aotea Centre, seats about 2,139; Wellington's Michael Fowler Centre about 2,209; and Christchurch Town Hall, reopened in 2019 after the 2011 earthquake, about 2,250. Auckland is a Saturday (13 February), Wellington a Tuesday (16 February) and Christchurch a Thursday (18 February).
Perth opens the tour on Wednesday 27 January at Perth HPC in Mount Claremont, a sports and events complex formerly known as Challenge Stadium. It is a change from the Astor Theatre, where the band played two nights in March 2024, and from Perth Arena in 2017. Perth also hosted them at the Burswood Dome in 2003 and Claremont Showground in 2009.
Adelaide's show is on Wednesday 3 February at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre in Hindmarsh, the room of about 3,000 that the archive lists as the AEC Theatre for the 2024 visit. Before that, Adelaide audiences saw the band at Thebarton Theatre in 1982 and 2017 and at the main Entertainment Centre arena in 2003.
Brisbane closes the Australian leg on Tuesday 9 February at The Fortitude Music Hall, which opened the 2024 Australian tour. Brisbane was also the first stop of all in 1982, with two nights at Festival Hall.
Human League shows in Australia and New Zealand run to around 19 songs in a theatre and a dozen or so in a shorter outdoor slot. The band play everything live, with no backing tapes for vocals, a point of principle Joanne Catherall has explained on air. Oakey, Catherall and Sulley front a small band of keyboards, guitar and electronic drums, with video screens and lighting carrying much of the visual show.
At the Astor Theatre in Perth on 16 March 2024 the set opened with "Mirror Man", "Tell Me When" and "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", passed through "Heart Like a Wheel", "The Lebanon", "One Man in My Heart" (sung by Sulley) and "Human", and then went back to 1981 with "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of", "Open Your Heart", "The Sound of the Crowd", "Darkness", "Do or Die", the "Get Carter" theme, "I Am the Law", "Seconds" and "Love Action (I Believe in Love)". "Don't You Want Me", "Being Boiled" and "Together in Electric Dreams" closed the night.
Across all the local set lists in the archive, the most played songs are "Don't You Want Me", "Mirror Man", "The Sound of the Crowd", "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" and "Open Your Heart", with "Together in Electric Dreams" usually saved for last. For a tour billed as the Greatest Hits Tour, expect that core to stay.
Tickets for all ten Australian and New Zealand shows have been on sale since Friday 6 February 2026, through the official ticket outlet for each venue and the venues' own box offices. Sydney and Melbourne have two nights each, so check the date printed on your ticket before you travel.
There is no public presale code to buy or share for this tour. Codes and "guaranteed" tickets advertised on social media are not genuine. If a night sells out, use the official resale service linked to the original seller; most tickets are mobile and name-locked, so a screenshot bought from a stranger may not get you in.
If more dates are added or production holds are released, the announcement usually comes with little warning. Sign up below for the alert and we will email you when anything changes for the Human League in Australia or New Zealand.
When does the Human League's 2027 Australia tour start?
At Perth HPC in Perth on Wednesday 27 January 2027.
Which cities are on the tour?
Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia, then Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch in New Zealand.
How many Sydney and Melbourne shows are there?
Two each: the Enmore Theatre on 30 and 31 January, and the Palais Theatre on 5 and 6 February 2027.
Are there New Zealand dates?
Yes, three: the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Auckland on 13 February, the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington on 16 February and Christchurch Town Hall on 18 February 2027.
When were tickets released?
Tickets have been on sale since Friday 6 February 2026.
Who is the support act?
No support act had been announced as of 9 October 2026.
When did the Human League last play Australia?
In March 2024, with shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and two nights at the Astor Theatre in Perth on 16 and 17 March.
When was their first Australian tour?
In May 1982, with dates at Brisbane Festival Hall, the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, Thebarton Theatre in Adelaide, and the Capitol Theatre and Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.
Will they play "Don't You Want Me"?
It has been in almost every Australian and New Zealand set list in the archive, usually near the end, followed by "Being Boiled" and "Together in Electric Dreams".
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