Radiohead took notes from this guy. Now DJ Shadow is bringing a 30-year-old classic our way. Dig in.
Dust off your crate-digging instincts, because DJ Shadow is heading back to Melbourne for a big anniversary in February 2027, another name for the huge Live at the Gardens season run.
The Californian producer, whose real name is Josh Davis, will perform DJ Shadow Celebrates 30 Years of Endtroducing….. across five cities, marking three decades since his debut album landed in 1996.
The run starts at Perth Festival on 19 February and finishes at Live at the Gardens in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens on 27 February, with Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane in between.
DJ Shadow – Live at the Gardens, Melbourne
- 19 February: Perth Festival, Perth, WA
- 20 February: Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, SA
- 21 February: Roundhouse, Sydney, NSW
- 25 February: The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD
- 27 February: Live at the Gardens, Melbourne, VIC
- Sign up for presale here
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
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Endtroducing….. was stitched together almost entirely from sampled records, and its reach went well beyond hip-hop. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke has credited the album as an influence on the band’s approach to OK Computer, and the stop-start drums on Airbag are often pointed to as an example.
Yorke later teamed up with Davis on Rabbit in Your Headlights, a track from UNKLE’s debut album Psyence Fiction, which Davis produced.
Davis built the record in the mid-1990s by hunting down obscure vinyl and chopping it into new shapes.
Dusty drum breaks, jazz oddities and sweeping strings all get layered with turntable scratches. The tracklist runs from the slow-burning Building Steam with a Grain of Salt to the rhythm-driven The Number Song.
Davis got his start spinning records on a campus radio station in the Californian town of Davis, long before Endtroducing….. came out on UK label Mo’ Wax. He’s coming off a sold-out Australian tour in 2025, and this run is presented by Astral People.
What is DJ Shadow known for?
DJ Shadow is the stage name of California producer Josh Davis, and he’s a major name in instrumental hip-hop and sample-based music.
His 1996 debut album Endtroducing….. was built almost entirely from sampled records and became his calling card.
He went on to produce UNKLE’s debut album, Psyence Fiction, and his music has also been used on screen, including the soundtrack to the documentary Dark Days.
When did he last play in Australia?
DJ Shadow last toured Australia in February 2025 on his Action Adventure tour.
In Melbourne, he played two nights at Northcote Theatre, on 12 February and 14 February, after demand for the first show led to the second being added. The 14 February show sold out. The tour also stopped in Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle.
Presale kicks off at 9am AEDT on 11 November, and general sale follows at 9am AEDT on 12 November. You can sign up for presale access through the Astral People website.
For more information, head here.
