Dig out the At the Drive-In hoodie, because El Paso post-hardcore crew Sparta are playing four Australian headline shows in April.
Sparta came together after At the Drive-In split in 2001, when Jim Ward teamed up with fellow former members Paul Hinojos and Tony Hajjar. Ward stepped up to lead vocals and guitar, and the band’s debut, Wiretap Scars, landed in 2002. Porcelain and Threes followed it. More than two decades later, they’re still putting out records, with Cut a Silhouette the latest.
Melbourne gets the opening night, at 170 Russell on 2 April. Expect a setlist that leans on the old stuff: Cut Your Ribbon, Air, Breaking the Broken and While Oceana Sleeps are all confirmed. Two new tracks, Crater and Everything You Say, are on there too. Cut Your Ribbon and Air both come off Wiretap Scars, so the debut gets a decent look-in.
Sparta
- 2 April: 170 Russell, Melbourne
- 3 April: Factory Theatre, Sydney
- 4 April: The Triffid, Brisbane
- 8 April: Rosemount Hotel, Perth
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Back in May 2024, Sparta toured here playing Wiretap Scars front to back, a five-city run that put them at the Croxton Bandroom in Thornbury. Adelaide had a night at The Gov on that tour. It misses out this time, and with four shows only, Perth’s Rosemount Hotel closes the 2027 run on 8 April.
Ward has kept plenty going outside the band. He’s released music as Sleepercar and under his own name, including the 2011 solo album Quiet in the Valley, On the Shores the End Begins, which he brought to the East Brunswick Club that August.
Pre-sale tickets open on 21 October at 12pm local time. General sales kick off two days later, on 23 October, also at 12pm local, through Metropolis Touring.
For more information, head here.
