Rock N Roll Circus arrives in Sheffield — still tickets for The Kooks and Richard Ashcroft

Sheffield’s summer of live music isn’t quite finished yet. Just weeks after Tramlines brought tens of thousands of music fans into the city, another major festival is preparing to roll into the Steel City — complete with a Big Top, aerialists, fire performers and some very familiar British guitar bands. Rock N Roll Circus returns to Don Valley Bowl from August 27–30, turning the August Bank Holiday weekend into four days of indie, rock, Britpop nostalgia and circus mayhem. And if you missed out on some of Sheffield’s biggest gigs earlier in the summer, there’s still time to get yourself under the big top.

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News: Good Things Festival unveils another massive lineup for 2026

Good Things Festival is gearing up to make its return in 2026, with the annual collision of punk, metal, hardcore, emo and alternative music preparing to take over Australia once again. Since establishing itself on the Australian festival calendar, Good Things has become one of the biggest annual gatherings for the country's heavy and alternative music communities, bringing international names together with Australian favourites and emerging acts across multiple stages. Good Things 2026 has assembled a formidable cross-section of punk, metal, hardcore and alternative music, with Limp Bizkit leading a bill that also brings 

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Album Review: Hana Stretton – ‘tiarn’: An ambient folk moment that needs to be cherished.

Solitude is essential for Australian folk composer and sound collector Hana Stretton. Her debut, 2023’s, the shimmering ‘Soon’, was written during an extended stay watching over her much-missed Grandmother’s New South Wales farm-stead. Now Stretton’s sophomore release ‘tiarn’ has emerged, a work also conceived while living alone, this time in Lake Tabourie, a small beach town in South Australia. Crucially like ‘Soon’, this new album resonates with the connection she absorbs from context but there‘s a contrast between the two. Whereas ‘Soon’ evoked closeness and an honest intimacy with its delicate songs,

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Live Review: Loyle Carner – Kirkstall Abbey. 01.08.26

A blissful evening with @loylecarner at Kirkstall Abbey in Leeds #loylecarner #hiphop #livemusic #gigreview

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News: Nadia Reid returns to Australia for Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and regional shows

Nadia Reid is returning to Australia this December for her most extensive tour of the country to date, expanding beyond the familiar Sydney and Melbourne circuit for shows across Canberra, Adelaide and regional Victoria. The UK-based New Zealand singer-songwriter will be joined by longtime guitarist and collaborator Sam Taylor for the run, which arrives as Reid prepares to emerge from another period of writing and recording, including work on a new album in New York. For Reid, the expanded itinerary also carries a sense of history. Australia played an important role early in her career through her signing to Aaron Curnow’s much-loved Spunk!

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Live Gallery: Massive Attack Share Unflinching Warnings to Thousands – Afterpay Arena, Eora Land/Sydney 09.08.26

Massive Attack returned to Sydney on Sunday night for the first time since 2010. Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall took the stage in near-silhouette, the towering screens behind them flooding the arena with a relentless collage of terrifying headlines, statistics and statements. The show opened with a cover of Gigi D'Agostino's 'In My Mind' and then 'Risingson.' Before Elizabeth Fraser, the Cocteau Twins voice who's been woven through Massive Attack's catalogue since the Mezzanine era, stepped forward to sing 'Black Milk'. Horace Andy then took the stage with 'Girl I Love You.' A reminder that Massive Attack, at this point, function more like a standing collective with Del Naja and Marshall as the core, surrounded by a rotating cast of collaborators who've each shaped a different era of the group's sound.

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News: Mercury Prize winner Benjamin Clementine is finally coming to Australia

Benjamin Clementine will perform in Australia for the first time this October, with the Mercury Prize-winning British artist announcing dates in Adelaide, Sydney and Perth as part of his Back to Basics tour. It is a remarkably belated Australian debut for an artist who has spent more than a decade building a reputation around performances that sit somewhere between concert, theatre and poetry recital. Voice and piano remain at the centre, but Clementine has never seemed particularly concerned with the conventional boundaries of the singer-songwriter. Born in London to parents of Ghanaian descent, Clementine’s route into music took an unusual turn when he moved to Paris.

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News: Patrick Watson returns to Australia after more than 10 years away

Patrick Watson is returning to Australia this November for his first tour of the country in more than a decade, with the Canadian songwriter set to bring his latest album UH OH to the East Coast. It has been a long absence for an artist whose reach has quietly grown far beyond the intimate, intricately arranged music with which he first made his name. Across two decades, Watson has moved between indie rock, chamber pop, classical music and cabaret, building songs around his distinctive voice, piano and an instinct for arrangements that rarely settle into conventional shapes.

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News: Talib Kweli announces Australian headline tour for November 2026

Talib Kweli is returning to Australia this November, with the Brooklyn rapper announcing a run of headline shows that brings him back to the country barely a year after two very different visits in 2025. The November dates will put Kweli into some of Australia’s more intimate rooms, offering a closer look at a catalogue that now stretches across more than two decades of hip hop. Australian audiences have had plenty of opportunities to reconnect with Kweli recently. In 2025 he appeared alongside The Roots, before returning as one half of Black Star with Yasiin Bey, reviving one of alternative hip hop’s most enduring partnerships in front of Australian crowds.

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News: Clementine Douglas announces first-ever Australian headline tour

Clementine Douglas is stepping out from behind some of dance music’s biggest records and into the headline spot, with the British singer, songwriter and producer set to return to Australia this September for her first-ever headline tour. The BRIT Award-winning artist will play shows in Sydney and Melbourne, bringing a voice Australian dance audiences may already know particularly well. Douglas has become an increasingly prominent presence in electronic music through collaborations with artists including Dom Dolla, Calvin Harris and David Guetta, building a career that places songwriting and vocals at the centre of the dancefloor.

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News: Chappell Roan announces two-night LA fundraiser through The Midwest Princess Project

Chappell Roan has announced The Super Graphic Spectacular, a two-night Los Angeles fundraiser bringing music, drag, comedy and community action together in support of LGBTQ+ communities. Taking place at The Shrine on October 21 and 22, 2026, the event is the flagship annual fundraiser for Roan’s non-profit initiative, The Midwest Princess Project. Roan will headline both nights, with further artists, special guests, drag performers and comedians still to be announced. Rather than simply attaching a charitable component to a pair of concerts, The Super Graphic Spectacular is being built as a wider celebration of music, creativity and community.

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Live Review + Photo Galleries: The Living End at The Odeon Theatre, Hobart 07/08/2026

The Living End hit Hobart on Friday evening as the third stop on their sold-out regional 'I Only Trust Rock & Roll' Tour, celebrating the release of 2025's album of the same name. Over 1200 fans crammed their way into the Odeon Theatre to witness the continuation of a story which began back in 1994 before exploding into the greater Australian conscience in 1997 with their second EP gaining much interest from radio and new-found fans across the country. The band have been touring regularly across the years, and have never lost their appeal, with their melodic mix of rockabilly, punk and straight up rock & roll proving to be a perfect recipe for their numerous fans (and newcomers alike).

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Live Gallery: Gang of Youths Come Home For Their Sydney Opera House Debut 8.08.2026

There is something fitting about Gang of Youths arriving at the Sydney Opera House by way of Thirroul. Two nights ago, the Sydney-born band performed in the relative intimacy of Anita’s Theatre; tonight they step into the Concert Hall for the first of two sold-out performances, their first Australian shows in four years and their debut beneath the sails. The room is packed well before they appear. Gang of Youths inspire a particular kind of loyalty in Australia, and tonight that stretches across generations. Looking around the Concert Hall, among the couples, friends and longtime followers, I spot a tiny baby brought along by parents apparently unwilling to let parenthood interfere with seeing the band’s homecoming.

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News: The Darts Join The Damned For Brisbane And Melbourne Australian Shows

US garage-rock quartet The Darts have been announced as special guests for two dates on The Damned’s upcoming Australian tour, joining the British punk veterans in Brisbane and Melbourne. The announcement brings together two bands connected not only by their roots in punk and garage rock, but by a shared history. The Darts have previously toured with The Damned, and their return to the bill comes as the Arizona-founded group continues an extensive period of international touring behind their latest album, Halloween Love Songs. Formed in 2016, The Darts have built their reputation on a particularly potent strain of garage rock: Nicole Laurenne’s Farfisa organ and vocals sitting at the centre of distorted guitars, pounding rhythms and a visual identity steeped in black-clad ’60s cool.

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Live Gallery: Plini, Delta Sleep, Cenobia And NightDive At Liberty Hall, Sydney 8.08.2026

There are plenty of technically gifted guitarists. There are very few who can make extraordinary musicianship feel this welcoming. On a chilly Friday night at Sydney's Liberty Hall, Plini transforms complexity into something remarkably human, delivering a performance that is as emotionally engaging as it is jaw-dropping. Before the night's headliner takes the stage, the lineup perfectly frames the evening's progressive journey. Sydney newcomers NightDive continue to show why they're one of Australia's most promising alternative metal acts, bringing weight and atmosphere in equal measure. Cenobia, still cloaked in mystery, follows with a set that balances crushing riffs against haunting melody, her masked persona only adding to the sense of intrigue.

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News: The New Christs Join The Damned’s Final Damnation Tour In Melbourne

More than four decades after emerging from the shadow of Radio Birdman, The New Christs remain one of Australia's most enduring and influential rock bands. Now, the group have been confirmed as special guests for The Damned's Final Damnation Tour, joining the legendary UK punk pioneers at The Forum, Melbourne on 13 September. Formed in the early 1980s by vocalist Rob Younger, The New Christs quickly established themselves as a formidable force in Australian underground rock. Drawing on the raw intensity of punk while embracing a broader rock and roll palette, the band has built a reputation for uncompromising live performances that have resonated with audiences both in Australia and overseas.

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News: The National’s Bryce Dessner Brings His Orchestral Vision To Sydney

For more than two decades, Bryce Dessner has occupied a unique place in modern music. Best known as guitarist and principal composer for The National, he has also established himself as one of the most respected contemporary classical composers of his generation. Now, Australian audiences will have the rare opportunity to experience both worlds collide when Dessner joins the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for a special concert celebrating his richly textured body of work. Far from a conventional orchestral performance, the concert will see Dessner step onto the stage as guitarist, performing a program of compositions that blur the boundaries between indie rock, minimalism and contemporary classical music.

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Track: BIG NOTER Recruit IDLES’ Joe Talbot For Explosive New Single

Briggs and BIG NOTER continue their uncompromising introduction with the release of 'BIG NOTER', a blistering new single featuring Joe Talbot of IDLES, lifted from the band's forthcoming debut album Songs In The Key Of Wrestling, due 18 September via Island Records Australia. Stream it HERE. If previous releases announced BIG NOTER as one of Australia's most formidable new heavy bands, the self-titled track sharpens that message. Built on crushing riffs, a grimy low-end groove and Talbot's unmistakable roar, 'BIG NOTER' is a sardonic dismantling of swagger, self-importance and toxic masculinity.

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News: Grace Turbo Releases Yes, And And Celebrates With Sydney Launch Show

After months of carefully revealing its emotional contours through a trio of singles, Grace Turbo has officially released her second album, Yes, And. The Sydney-based songwriter celebrates the album's arrival today with a launch show at The Eveleigh Hotel in Redfern, marking the next chapter for one of Australia's quietly compelling indie pop voices. Backseat Mafia recently spotlighted the album's final preview, 'Bleed Again', a song that distilled Grace Turbo's gift for pairing emotional precision with understated, piano-led arrangements. It followed earlier singles 'Linear', which premiered via Backseat Mafia…

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News: Tasmania’s Joel Green Band bring us a wash of nostalgia with latest offering, Drifter

For one so young, Joel Green has packed in a lot of musical experience into his 23 years. Now a fixture on the nipaluna/Hobart music scene, he is fast becoming one of the youngest veterans of a music community you are ever likely to encounter. Buoyed by his success with Legal Noise, the fuzz-rock band he formed back in his high school days and in which he cut his teeth, Green has greatly expanded his horizons through his collaborations with numerous other like-minded, gifted musicians. He has used that experience to join/form cow-punk rockers, Funeral Jeans and his own Joel Green Band, while he has also recently joined Tasmanian powerhouse psychedelic rock trio, The Spooky Eyes as they expand to a four-piece outfit.

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Track: Garden Eyes Explore Distance And Desire On New Single ‘Blur’

Brisbane alternative rock quartet Garden Eyes continue to build momentum with the release of 'Blur', a brooding new single that marks the band's fourth release of 2026 and offers another glimpse of a larger project on the horizon. Stream it HERE. Produced, mixed and mastered by Jackson Deasy (East Capri), 'Blur' finds the band embracing a darker, more emotionally nuanced sound. Built around moody guitars and dynamic shifts, the track explores the fragile balance between connection and distance, capturing both the relief of reciprocated love and the strain of trying to sustain a long-distance relationship.

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News: Romanie Announces National Tour With A Creative Twist

Rather than simply taking her acclaimed second album on the road, Romanie is turning every stop of her upcoming Australian tour into a unique creative experiment. The Naarm/Melbourne-via-Belgium singer-songwriter has announced a national headline run from August through November in support of It's Not That Funny, while also revealing a concept that will see each show feature a one-off collaboration with a local support artist. The announcement also coincides with Romanie signing to Community Music Publishing, marking another milestone following the release of It's Not That Funny, which debuted at…

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Track: DIIV Announce ZIRP! And Unveil New Single ‘The Fountain’

DIIV have officially unveiled their fifth studio album, ZIRP!, arriving 30 October via Fantasy Records, alongside its lead single 'The Fountain'. After teasing fans with a mysterious hotline number sent by mail last week, the New York band have revealed a record that seeks to redefine the space between underground guitar music and modern pop, introducing what they describe as "The New Alternative." Stream it HERE. The announcement marks another evolution for a band that has consistently resisted easy categorisation. Since emerging in the early 2010s, DIIV have blurred the boundaries between shoegaze, dream pop, grunge and indie rock, building a catalogue that has continually paired dense, immersive guitars with an instinct for memorable melody.

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Track: Unicorn Return With Defiant New Single ‘Sweet Ride’

Western Australian rock outfit Unicorn continue to build momentum with the release of their new single 'Sweet Ride', a driving, emotionally charged track that reinforces the band's reputation for pairing muscular guitar work with deeply personal songwriting. Stream it HERE. Following the success of 2025 singles 'Wonderful Wonderful' and 'Spirals', 'Sweet Ride' finds the Fremantle four-piece pushing their sound further, balancing sharp-edged riffs with moments of cathartic release. At its core, however, the song is less about confrontation than conviction. For vocalist and songwriter Jenna Hardie, …

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News: Queenscliff Music Festival Unveils Third Artist Announcement

The lineup for Queenscliff Music Festival 2026 has grown again, with organisers unveiling a third wave of artists that adds another 19 acts to an already expansive bill. Returning to the Bellarine Peninsula from 27 to 29 November, the festival continues to blend established Australian names with emerging talent, reinforcing its reputation as one of the country's most eclectic and community-driven music events. Leading the latest announcement are Babe Rainbow, whose laid-back psychedelic rock has carried them from Byron Bay to international stages, alongside Melbourne favourites The Pretty Littles…

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Track: Imperial Teen Return With New Album All Over You And Single ‘Overdrive’

Five years after their last release, Imperial Teen are back with news of their seventh studio album. All Over You arrives on 9 October via Merge Records, accompanied by the release of lead single 'Overdrive', a sharp, hook-laden introduction to the band's latest chapter and their first run of headline shows since 2020. Stream it HERE. Written during a late-night writing session in Provincetown, 'Overdrive' captures everything that has long defined Imperial Teen: taut melodies, sly humour and a restless energy that has kept the San Francisco quartet distinct for more than three decades.

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Track: Stellar Circuits Unveil Powerful New Single ‘In The Smoke’

Alternative metal outfit Stellar Circuits have released their latest single, 'In The Smoke', continuing a prolific run of standalone tracks that has seen the band steadily expand their sound throughout 2026. Out now via Nuclear Blast Records, the track arrives alongside an official visualiser and further reinforces the band's ability to marry progressive musicianship with emotionally charged songwriting. Stream it HERE. Following 'Spotlight', 'Wounded Healer' and 'Stargazer', 'In The Smoke' finds Stellar Circuits exploring the uneasy territory between clarity and obsession. Built around crushing riffs, shifting dynamics and moments of restrained tension, the song examines failure, surrender and the gradual loss of perspective, balancing technical precision with an atmosphere that is both immersive and deeply personal.

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News: Heart Legend Ann Wilson Returns To Australia For Headline Shows

Rock icon Ann Wilson will return to Australia this November, announcing a run of headline sideshows around her appearance at the Carreras & Friends concert in Brisbane. Backed by her band Tripsitter, the Voice of Heart Tour will visit Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney, with legendary Australasian rock band Dragon joining as special guests on all Australian dates. The tour offers fans the chance to experience one of rock's most celebrated voices in an intimate headline setting. Wilson's performances will draw from the enduring catalogue of Heart…

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Premiere: Icecream Hands declare it’s ‘Shakespeare Always’ as they exclusively unveil video for the anthemic track ahead of EP release and live dates.

We are honoured to exclusively premiere the video for the track 'Shakespeare Always' from Melbourne power pop icons Icecream Hands on the eve of the release of their new EP 'Pineapple Pieces', a four-track companion EP to their ARIA-charting 2025 album 'Giant Fox Pineapple Tree.' 'Shakespeare Always' launches with crystalline guitars with more crunch than a Violet Crumble and a melody just as sweet with its harmonious backing vocals and studied delivery. A delicate piano riff etches contrails in the sky and surprising little switches in pace, at the beginning, middle and end, create an ebb and flow to the delicious power pop.

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News: Harbourlife Returns With A New Look And International Lineup

For more than 30 years, Harbourlife has marked the unofficial arrival of Sydney summer, transforming the spectacular surrounds of Fleet Steps at Mrs Macquarie's Chair into one of Australia's most recognisable open-air dancefloors. Returning on 21 November, the festival enters a new era with its first major rebrand in more than two decades, upgraded production and a lineup that brings together internationally acclaimed house artists with some of Australia's most respected selectors. Leading the bill is Honey Dijon, whose influence extends far beyond the DJ booth. Emerging from Chicago's house music scene, she has spent three decades shaping contemporary dance music through sets that effortlessly move between house, disco and soulful club rhythms.

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