The Living End Australia Tour 2027

The Living End have not announced any concerts in Australia or New Zealand for 2027. As of 9 October 2026 there is no new tour, festival booking or support slot on the official record for next year. The Melbourne trio of Chris Cheney, Scott Owen and Andy Strachan have just finished a long run of Australian dates for their ninth studio album, I Only Trust Rock n Roll, and played Spark Arena in Auckland on 25 September 2026.

Few Australian rock bands have toured as constantly. Since the double A-side 'Second Solution' / 'Prisoner of Society' became the highest-selling Australian single of the 1990s, the Living End have played capital-city arenas and theatres, the Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass and Soundwave, and an enormous number of regional shows, from Port Lincoln and Kalgoorlie to Mackay and the Mundi Mundi Plains. They were named in the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2026.

This page explains what is and is not announced for 2027, and gives a detailed history of the band's concerts in Australia and New Zealand, from their earliest support slots to the I Only Trust Rock n Roll Tour of 2025 and 2026.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: what is announced so far

There is no official information about a Living End tour of Australia or New Zealand in 2027. No promoter, venue or festival has listed the band for next year. The latest dates in the setlist archive are the regional leg of the I Only Trust Rock n Roll Tour in July and August 2026, which ended at the University of Canberra Refectory on 22 August 2026, and a nine-song set at Spark Arena in Auckland on Friday 25 September 2026.

On this site the Living End appear in the list of Australian acts next to the Powderfinger reunion, which was announced on 9 October 2026 with a national tour from September 2027. That is a link between two bands of the same generation, not a booking: Powderfinger have not named support acts, and nothing connects the Living End to those dates.

The band's usual rhythm is a capital-city tour for each album, followed by a long tail of regional and summer outdoor shows. I Only Trust Rock n Roll came out in 2025 and has already been toured in both ways, so the shape of 2027 is genuinely open. Treat any '2027 tour' listing or presale code as unconfirmed until the band announce it.

If the Living End confirm concerts in Australia or New Zealand for 2027, this page will be updated with the cities, venues and sale dates. Sign up below for the alert to be told as soon as that happens.

Before The Living End Australia Tour 2027: Australia/NZ concert history

The Living End grew out of Melbourne's rockabilly scene. Cheney and Owen played their first public gig at the Rob Roy in 1991 as the Runaway Boys, a covers band that played regional towns and supported Mercury Blue at the Wheelers Hill Hotel. As the Living End they sent a demo to Green Day and landed the support slot on Green Day's 1995 Australian tour, played the Pushover and Falls festivals with drummer Travis Demsey, and in January 1998 supported the Offspring on the Australian leg of their tour, the same month 'Second Solution' / 'Prisoner of Society' was released. They also played the inaugural Warped Tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1998 and the Tour of Duty concert for Australian peacekeepers in East Timor.

New Zealand followed the success of the debut album. The setlist archive lists the Powerstation in Auckland on 10 October 1998 and James Cabaret in Wellington the next night, the Big Day Out in Auckland on 15 January 1999, and a four-city tour in August 1999: the Powerstation, the Meteor Theatre in Hamilton, the Indigo Bar in Wellington and the Christchurch Town Hall on 8 August. In early 2001 the band supported AC/DC on the Australian leg of the Stiff Upper Lip tour, but touring for Roll On was cut short when Cheney was badly injured in a car accident on the Great Ocean Road.

With Andy Strachan on drums from 2002, the band returned to the Big Day Out in 2003 and 2006, including the Auckland shows on 17 January 2003 and 20 January 2006, and played Splendour in the Grass before recording State of Emergency in Byron Bay in 2005. A Melbourne show from the State of Emergency tour was released as the DVD Live at Festival Hall in 2006, and in November 2006 they played the Kings Arms in Auckland. The White Noise era brought the 2008 NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium on 5 October, a show at Westpac Arena in Christchurch on 9 November 2008, a secret support set for the Stray Cats in Melbourne in February 2009 and acoustic sets in Yea, Alexandra and Kinglake after the Black Saturday bushfires.

In October 2009 the Legal Tender tour covered New Zealand thoroughly: the Edgar Centre in Dunedin, the Christchurch Town Hall, the Wellington Town Hall, the Pettigrew Green Arena in Napier, the Logan Campbell Centre in Auckland, Founders Theatre in Hamilton and the TSB Stadium in New Plymouth on 10 October 2009. In November and December 2012 the Retrospective Tour played each of the band's six albums over a week in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. They headlined Summernats 27 in Canberra in 2014, replaced Stone Temple Pilots at Soundwave that year and supported Cold Chisel on the One Night Stand tour in Townsville, Darwin, Perth, the Macedon Ranges and Sydney. In February 2019 they were back in New Zealand at the Hutt Recreation Ground and the Powerstation, touring Wunderbar.

From 2022 the archive shows an extraordinary amount of regional touring: North Gardens in Ballarat, the Country Club in Launceston, Gateway Lakes in Wodonga, Mannum, the Red Hot Summer Tour on the Gold Coast, at Sandstone Point, Noosa and Rochford Winery, two nights at Daydream Island Resort in the Whitsundays in May 2022, Cockatoo Island in Sydney in October 2022, Taronga Zoo in February 2023 and two secret nights at the Cherry Bar in Melbourne in May 2023 under their old alias, the Longnecks. Their 24-song headline show at Festival Hall in Melbourne on 4 November 2023 was the longest of that period.

The I Only Trust Rock n Roll campaign began with two 'Alfie' launch shows at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne on 15 May 2025 and the Metro Theatre in Sydney the next night, followed by small rooms in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. The capital-city tour played Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane on 8 November 2025, Hindley Street Music Hall in Adelaide, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne on 22 November, Fremantle Prison on 29 November and the Forecourt in Sydney on 12 December 2025, with sets of 28 or 29 songs. A regional leg in July and August 2026 reached Venue 114 in Bokarina, NEX in Newcastle, the Odeon Theatre in Hobart, Ballarat Civic Hall, two nights at the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Anita's Theatre in Wollongong and Canberra.

The table below lists 118 documented Australia/NZ concerts by The Living End between 1998 and 2026, with the most shows in Sydney (13), Auckland (11), Melbourne (10), Cairns (4), Adelaide (4), Moreton Bay (4). It is not exhaustive: it only includes documented shows.

Concert data: setlist.fm

The Living End 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 (29 November 2025 to 25 September 2026), these are the songs that came up most often. Titles only — set lists change from night to night.

1. All Torn Down — played at 15 of 15 shows
2. Roll On — played at 15 of 15 shows
3. Strange Place — played at 15 of 15 shows
4. Alfie — played at 14 of 15 shows
5. Prisoner of Society — played at 14 of 15 shows
6. Second Solution — played at 14 of 15 shows
7. White Noise — played at 14 of 15 shows
8. West End Riot — played at 13 of 15 shows
9. How Do We Know — played at 12 of 15 shows
10. Pictures in the Mirror — played at 12 of 15 shows
11. Roller — played at 12 of 15 shows
12. Uncle Harry — played at 10 of 15 shows
13. Misery — played at 9 of 15 shows
14. Who's Gonna Save Us? — played at 9 of 15 shows

Before The Living End Australia Tour 2027: past Australia/NZ tours at a glance

• I Only Trust Rock n Roll Tour (2025–2026): 15 Australia/NZ shows — Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Fremantle, Sydney, Bokarina, Newcastle, Hobart, Ballarat, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay….
• Pop Up Hall of Fame Party (2026): 1 Australia/NZ show — Sydney.
• Alfie Promo (2025): 2 Australia/NZ shows — Melbourne, Sydney.
• Red Hot Summer Tour (2022–2024): 6 Australia/NZ shows — Gold Coast, Noosa, Coldstream, Mornington, Mannum, Sydney.
• As 'The Longnecks' (2023): 2 Australia/NZ shows — Melbourne.
• Red Hot Summer Tour Bribie Island (2022): 1 Australia/NZ show — Moreton Bay.
• Wunderbar (2019): 1 Australia/NZ show — Auckland.
• The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating (2012): 1 Australia/NZ show — Auckland.
• Legal Tender (2009): 7 Australia/NZ shows — Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth.
• White Noise (2008–2009): 2 Australia/NZ shows — Christchurch, Auckland.
• State Of Emergency (2006): 1 Australia/NZ show — Auckland.
• The Living End (1998–1999): 7 Australia/NZ shows — Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Christchurch.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027 and Australia/NZ festivals

The Living End have been festival regulars for three decades. Wikipedia's Big Day Out lineup history lists them in 1999, 2003 and 2006, and the setlist archive confirms the Auckland shows in those years. Footage from Splendour in the Grass and the Sydney Big Day Out features on their 2004 DVD, and they played Splendour again in 2005. In 2014 they joined the Soundwave bill at short notice as a replacement for Stone Temple Pilots, and in 2015 they played the Decades Music Festival.

In recent years the band have been a fixture of Australia's outdoor touring festivals and regional events. The archive shows the Red Hot Summer Tour in 2022 and 2024 (Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast, Sandstone Point, Noosa, Rochford Winery, Mornington Racecourse, Mannum and the Coogee Bay Hotel), Kiama Showground, Torquay Common, Bendigo Jockey Club, Roche Estate in Pokolbin, the Mundi Mundi Plains near Silverton in August 2024 and Mindil Beach in Darwin in May 2026.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: career and records

Chris Cheney and Scott Owen met at primary school and played together from 1990 at Wheelers Hill Secondary College in Melbourne. Inspired by the Stray Cats, Owen switched from piano to double bass, which is still the band's trademark. In 1994 they renamed the group the Living End, a 1950s phrase taken from the film Rock Around the Clock, and released the Hellbound and It's for Your Own Good EPs.

'Second Solution' / 'Prisoner of Society' peaked at number four in 1998, spent a record 47 weeks in the top 50 and became the highest-selling Australian single of the decade. The self-titled debut album went to number one in October 1998 and was certified four times platinum; it won ARIA awards for Best Group and Breakthrough Artist in 1999 and was later listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums. Roll On, produced by Nick Launay, reached number eight in 2000.

Andy Strachan replaced Travis Demsey in 2002. Modern ARTillery (2003) reached number three, State of Emergency (2006) gave the band a second number-one album, and White Noise (2008) and The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating (2011) both won the ARIA award for Best Rock Album. The band also won the 2011 ARIA for Most Popular Australian Live Artist.

Shift (2016) and Wunderbar (2018), recorded in Berlin with Tobias Kuhn, kept them in the top five, and I Only Trust Rock n Roll reached number five in 2025. Across their career the Living End have received 27 ARIA nominations and six awards. In 2025 they publicly rejected the use of their songs at anti-immigration marches.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: the melbourne nights

Melbourne is the band's home town and the setting for many of their landmark shows: the first gig at the Rob Roy in 1991, the Live at Festival Hall DVD in 2006, the 24-song Festival Hall headline show on 4 November 2023 and the Royal Botanic Gardens on 22 November 2025.

It is also where the Living End test new material. The Longnecks shows at the Cherry Bar in May 2023 continued a habit that goes back to 2002, and the archive includes small-room nights at the Punter's Club, the Tote, the Corner Hotel and the Bendigo Hotel in 2025.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: touring the regions

No major Australian band plays more regional dates. Between 2022 and 2026 the archive lists shows in Launceston, Wodonga, Mannum, Cairns, the Whitsundays, Kiama, Bunbury, Tumbarumba, Bundaberg, Coffs Harbour, Mildura, Young, Parkes, Mareeba, Pambula, Port Lincoln, Echuca, Kalgoorlie, Brunswick Heads, Tamworth, Mackay and Townsville, among others.

That pattern means a 2027 tour, if there is one, would probably not stop at the capital cities. But no such tour has been announced.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: new zealand

New Zealand has been part of the Living End's touring since 1998, with the Powerstation in Auckland a recurring venue in 1998, 1999 and 2019. The 2009 Legal Tender tour was their most complete New Zealand run, with seven cities from Dunedin to Auckland.

Their most recent New Zealand date in the archive is Spark Arena in Auckland on 25 September 2026, a nine-song set. No New Zealand concert has been announced for 2027.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: the powderfinger generation

The Living End are listed on this site next to Powderfinger because both bands came up through Triple J and the Big Day Out in the late 1990s. Powderfinger's producer Nick DiDia produced The Ending Is Just the Beginning Repeating, and both bands appeared on the 2008 charity compilation Caution: Life Ahead.

Powderfinger announced their reunion and a national tour from September 2027 on 9 October 2026, without dates or support acts. There is no announcement involving the Living End.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: what to expect live

A Living End headline show in Australia runs from about 17 to 29 songs. On the 2025 capital-city tour the sets ran to 28 or 29 songs; on the 2026 regional leg they were around 18 or 19. Festival and outdoor sets are usually ten to fourteen songs.

Across their documented Australian and New Zealand concerts, the songs played most often are 'Prisoner of Society', 'Second Solution', 'White Noise', 'Roll On', 'All Torn Down', 'West End Riot', 'Uncle Harry' and 'Pictures in the Mirror'. Newer songs such as 'Alfie', 'Misery', 'Strange Place' and 'I Only Trust Rock n Roll' have joined the set since 2025, and the band often play a medley that runs through 'Mr Sandman' and 'E Boogie'.

The show is built around the trio format: Cheney's rockabilly guitar, Owen's double bass and Strachan's drums, with a second guitarist added on stage since 2011. Their cover of 'Tainted Love' and a version of 'Waltzing Matilda' have also been regular features.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027 tickets and presales

There are no Living End tickets on sale for Australia or New Zealand in 2027, because no 2027 concerts have been announced. Any website offering 2027 seats or a 2027 presale code is not official.

For past tours, tickets were sold through each venue's or festival's official ticketing partner, often with a short presale for fans on the band's mailing list. If 2027 dates are confirmed, buy only through the outlet named in the official announcement or the venue box office and expect name-linked mobile tickets for larger shows.

Sign up below for the alert to be told as soon as the Living End confirm any concert in Australia or New Zealand.

The Living End Australia Tour 2027: questions and answers

Are the Living End touring Australia in 2027?

No tour has been announced. As of 9 October 2026 there are no 2027 Australian or New Zealand dates.

When did the Living End last play in Australia?

The latest Australian date in the archive is the University of Canberra Refectory on 22 August 2026, the last night of the regional leg of the I Only Trust Rock n Roll Tour.

When did the Living End last play in New Zealand?

At Spark Arena in Auckland on 25 September 2026.

Are the Living End supporting Powderfinger in 2027?

Nothing has been announced. Powderfinger have not named any support acts for their 2027 tour.

What is the Living End's latest album?

I Only Trust Rock n Roll, released in 2025, which reached number five on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Who is in the Living End?

Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals) and Andy Strachan (drums), the line-up since 2002.

What songs do the Living End play live?

Regulars include 'Prisoner of Society', 'Second Solution', 'White Noise', 'Roll On', 'All Torn Down' and 'West End Riot'.

Is there a presale code for the Living End 2027?

No. Without announced concerts there is no presale. Any code sold or shared online for 2027 is not genuine.