Dermot Kennedy has announced a return run across Australia and New Zealand this November.
The multi-platinum singer-songwriter is heading back south following his appearance at Sydney’s MISNEACH Festival in 2025. This time, it’s a full-scale tour built around his new album The Weight of the Woods, a record that quietly rewrites his own history. With it, Dermot Kennedy becomes the first Irish solo artist to debut at Number 1 in the UK with his first three studio albums.
The run opens under open skies at Kings Park in Perth before moving through Brisbane’s Riverstage, Sydney’s TikTok Entertainment Centre, Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena and closing in Adelaide. Rooms of increasing size, but the same core idea. Kennedy’s music has always felt like it’s built for direct connection rather than spectacle, even when the rooms swell around it.
The Weight of the Woods leans into that tension. Written largely in rural Ireland and shaped alongside longtime collaborator Gabe Simon, the album trades in atmosphere and restraint.
That sense of intimacy hasn’t been lost in the scale-up. In the lead-up to the album, Kennedy dropped into pop-up shows in Los Angeles and New York, including a St Patrick’s Day set that blurred the line between rehearsal and release. It’s the same instinct that defined his early years busking, just refracted through a career that now includes four billion streams and a run of global tours alongside peers like Niall Horan, Noah Kahan and Zach Bryan.
Before he lands in Australia, Kennedy will take The Weight of the Woods across the UK and Europe, including a return to London’s The O2 Arena, and a stop at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend. North America follows, with dates at Red Rocks, the Greek Theatre and Forest Hills Stadium. It’s the largest stretch of his career so far, but it still circles back to the same thing. Voice, lyric, and the kind of emotional directness that doesn’t dilute when the crowd gets bigger.
DERMOT KENNEDY AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 2026
Perth, Kings Park and Botanic Garden Saturday 14 November
Brisbane, Riverstage Tuesday 17 November
Sydney, Tik Tok Entertainment Centre Wednesday 18 November
Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena Saturday 21 November
Adelaide, Entertainment Centre – Theatre Sunday 22 November
Christchurch, Town Hall Wednesday 25 November
Wellington, TSB Arena Friday 27 November
Auckland, Spark Arena Saturday 28 November
Go HERE for AU ticketing information and HERE for NZ.
