Nine years. That’s how long it’s been since Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds last stalked a stage in Australia or New Zealand. In 2026, that drought breaks. The band has confirmed a run of outdoor shows across January and February under the banner of The Wild God Tour - a live production that’s been leaving critics in Europe and North America scrambling for words like “transcendent,” “feral,” and “life-affirming.”
Rather than retreating into sterile arenas, Cave and company are setting up camp in spaces that breathe: Fremantle Park, Sydney’s Domain, Brisbane’s Victoria Park, and Melbourne’s Alexandra Gardens. Adelaide gets its own night, while Wellington will host two exclusive dates as part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts. The open-air settings suit Cave’s strange magic - half rock show, half secular mass - where the intimacy of a whispered lyric can suddenly swell into a storm that rattles the skyline.
Anchoring it all is Wild God, the 2024 album Cave crafted with Warren Ellis and David Fridmann. The record doesn’t just add to the band’s four-decade story; it redefines it, veering between fragile tenderness and snarling detours that feel purpose-built for the stage. Across a two-and-a-half-hour set, fans can expect new hymns alongside the twisted canon: four decades of ballads, laments, and devilish swagger, performed by a band that still moves like a restless organism rather than a nostalgia act.
For the faithful, tickets go on sale Friday, 29 August, 10am local time via nickcave.com. For the uninitiated, this is your chance to understand why Cave’s shows are spoken of less as “gigs” and more as experiences that border on ritual. Parks will become cathedrals, the audience a congregation, and Cave - as always - the most elegant apocalypse preacher you’ll ever meet.
Tour dates
- 17 Jan - Fremantle Park, Perth
- 20 Jan - Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
- 23 & 24 Jan - The Domain, Sydney
- 30 & 31 Jan + 1 Feb - Alexandra Gardens, Melbourne
- 5 & 6 Feb - TSB Arena, Wellington (Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts)
