Tucson, Arizona’s favourite sons, Calexico, are finally making their long-awaited return to Australia and New Zealand to play 11 very special shows around the region.
Having toured extensively across Europe and America throughout 2023 in support of the 20th anniversary of their seminal record Feast Of Wire, the band have saved the best ‘til last and are headed our way again at long last. To celebrate this double decade milestone, these shows will feature the album played in its entirety, plus of course a generous handful of fan favourites to finish.
Calexico tour dates
- Friday 09 Feb | Wellington Opera House, Wellington NZ
- Saturday 10 Feb | The Loons, Christchurch NZ
- Sunday 11 Feb | Powerstation, Auckland NZ
- Thursday 15 Feb | Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne VIC with Grace Cummings
- Friday 16 Feb | Theatre Royal, Castlemaine VIC with Grace Cummings
- Saturday 17 Feb | Tentpole Festival, Geelong VIC with Dinosaur Jr + Mogwai + more
- Sunday 18 Feb | Factory Theatre, Sydney NSW with Maple Glider
- Wednesday 21 Feb | Rechabite Hall, Perth Festival WA with Sunshine Brothers
- Thursday 22 Feb | The Gov, Adelaide SA with Babitha
- Friday 23 Feb | Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan VIC with Maple Glider
- Saturday 24 Feb | Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan VIC with Maple Glider
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Across their illustrious career, the charismatic core pairing of Joey Burns and John Convertino have earned a fevered following for their unique melting pot of country, cinema noir, desert jazz, TexMex tango, Latin rhythms, and French chansons. Their 1998 album The Black Light and 2000’s Hot Rail saw their star rise, but it was Feast of Wire that completed the trilogy of sorts, and shot them into the musical stratosphere.
Casting his mind back on the making of the album, Joey says, “I’m reminded of how much time and space we had in the studio to try out all sorts of ideas. Most of the recordings started like they often do with John on drums and myself on guitar. And as we brought in the other band members it was like a river was flooding through our subconsciousness and we couldn’t get the ideas to analog tape fast enough.”
While musically, there’s nothing quite like it, there’s also a meaningful lyrical thread running through Feast of Wire. The tales woven here concern themselves with the lives of those attempting to make their way north of the Mexican-American border to safety, a plight that the band acknowledges has only worsened in recent years.
These shows, in some of the region’s best venues will be momentous and joyful occasions, celebrating an album that has a tight and enduring grip on so many of our music-loving hearts.
Tickets available from Monday 30 October.
