After a long absence, Poison the Well will return to Australia in June 2026 for their first local shows since 2009. The Florida heavyweights will bring a national headline run to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane, joined on all dates by US hardcore outfit Haywire, marking Haywire’s first-ever Australian performances.
Poison the Well’s influence on metalcore is well documented, but their appeal has always rested on contrast rather than scale. Their 1999 debut The Opposite Of December… A Season Of Separation established a template that balanced abrasion with melody, opening space for emotion inside intensity. Across five albums, the band continued to test that tension, shaping a sound that has echoed through two decades of heavy music without becoming fixed in one era.
The 2026 tour arrives alongside a new phase for the band. Peace In Place, due March 20, will be Poison the Well’s first album in 16 years. Introduced earlier this month with the single ‘Thoroughbreds’, the record draws on the band’s history without revisiting it wholesale, filtering familiar instincts through years of distance and perspective. It is less about revival than continuation.
Live, Poison the Well have shown little interest in leaning on legacy alone. Recent headline runs across North America and Europe suggested a band still invested in forward momentum, integrating new material with older songs in sets that emphasise flow rather than chronology. The Australian dates are positioned as a chance to reconnect rather than recreate.
Support comes from Haywire, a Boston group whose approach to hardcore prioritises immediacy and movement. Formed by Austin Sparkman, the band channel classic hardcore structures with a restless edge, evident on tracks like ‘Like A Train’ and ‘Get To Steppin’. Arriving fresh from touring with Dropkick Murphys and DRAIN, their inclusion adds a sharp counterpoint to the bill.
Sixteen years on, Poison the Well’s return to Australia reads as a measured re-entry. Not a victory lap, but a continuation of a story that never fully closed.
POISON THE WELL AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2026 WITH SPECIAL GUESTS HAYWIRE
TOUR DATES:
SUNDAY 7 JUNE – MAGNET HOUSE, PERTH
TUESDAY 9 JUNE – LION ARTS FACTORY, ADELAIDE
THURSDAY 11 JUNE – 170 RUSSELL, MELBOURNE
FRIDAY 12 JUNE – METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY
SATURDAY 13 JUNE – KING ST BANDROOM, NEWCASTLE
SUNDAY 14 JUNE – PRINCESS THEATRE, BRISBANE
General tickets on sale: Monday 9 February @ 11am Local Time
Tickets from destroyalllines.com
