Australian icon’s next move announced

Paul Kelly will play his biggest shows yet in Australia and New Zealand as part of a major tour.

The Australian icon, whose hits Dumb Things and To Her Door have been delighting Australians since the 1980s, will play nine stadium shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland next year.

The tour will take place in August and September 2025 and will be Kelly’s only live performance for the next year.

The tour news comes ahead of Kelly’s upcoming album Fever Longing Still, which is scheduled for release on November 1st.

Singles Taught By Experts and Houndstooth Dress have already been released ahead of the new album.

During his extensive career, Kelly has received 17 ARIA awards and five APRA awards, and was awarded the Order of Australia in 2017.

His cult Christmas hit, How to Make Gravy, has even been adapted into a film, expected to be released in December.

“Dan, Joe, Rita, Angus, Dolly and everyone else have been stuck in this song for so long that I’m glad they’ll have a chance to live their lives differently,” Kelly previously said in a statement.

Kelly will be joined on tour by six-time Grammy winner Jason Isbell and his band 400 Unit along with Fanny Lumsden.

Ms Lumsden grew up on a sheep farm in western New South Wales and went on to win two ARIAS awards and nine CMAA Golden Guitar awards.

Her album HEY DAWN reached number one on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart last year and was the fourth most popular country album last year.

However, New Zealand audiences can expect a mixture of folk, rock and art-pop, and the concert will be opened by Reb Fontaine.

Kelly will play the RAC Arena in Perth on August 26, before heading to Brisbane Entertainment Center on August 29, Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on August 30, Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena on September 2, Adelaide Entertainment Center on September 4, Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne 6 September. , Christchurch Town Hall on 9 September, Michael Fowler Center Wellington on 10 September and Auckland Town Hall on 12 September.

Tickets for the tour go on sale at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, October 30th, but pre-sale for Frontier members will begin at 3:00 pm on Monday, October 28th.