The Drones 2026 Australian tour spans eight dates from Darwin to regional Victoria, with The Mess Hall along for the ride
The Drones are returning to stages across the country, announcing a 2026 Australian tour after a decade-long hiatus from live performance.
The Drones 2026 Australian tour will see the band play eight shows from August through September, kicking off at Darwin Festival on 8 August before winding through Thornbury, Brisbane, Marrickville, Adelaide, Perth, Castlemaine and Archie’s Creek. The Mess Hall, fellow Australian Music Prize winners who recently resurfaced at OK Motels’ Charlton edition earlier this year, join as support across all dates.
The Drones 2026 Australian tour dates
- When: 8 August to 12 September
- Where: Darwin, Thornbury, Brisbane, Marrickville, Adelaide, Perth, Castlemaine, Archie’s Creek
- Tickets: On sale now from venues. Darwin Festival tickets on sale 22 May
- For more information, head here
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One of Australia’s most uncompromising bands
The announcement follows two sold-out fundraiser shows at the Croxton Bandroom in May 2025, billed as Platonic Love Jam, which sold out in 20 minutes and marked the band’s first performances since December 2016. Those shows were benefit gigs for an undisclosed friend, featuring Paul Kelly, Don Walker, The Nation Blue and Mod Con across two nights.
Frontman Gareth Liddiard and bassist Fiona Kitschin will step away briefly from Tropical Fuck Storm, the ARIA Award-winning outfit that has kept both musicians relentlessly busy since The Drones went on ice. TFS released their fourth album Fairyland Codex in 2025 and have toured extensively across Europe, North America and Australia in the years since forming in 2017.
A legacy built on chaos and precision
The Drones won the inaugural Australian Music Prize in 2005 for their album Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By, and have released seven studio albums across a career stretching back to 1997. Songs like Shark Fin Blues, Taman Shud, I See Seaweed and Jezebel have cemented their place in the Australian rock canon, while their live shows earned a reputation for being equal parts confrontational and transcendent.
The current lineup features Liddiard, Kitschin, guitarist Dan Luscombe, drummer Christian Strybosch and keyboardist Steve Hesketh. The band has previously toured alongside Neil Young, Patti Smith and The Dirty Three, and in 2016 closed out their run with five sold-out nights at The Tote.
The tour is billed as a one-off — so if you’ve ever wanted to see one of the most important bands this country has produced, this is the window.
For more information, head here.
