News: You Am I To Reimagine Hourly, Daily With String Quartet On Special Tour

Few Australian bands have left a mark on the nation’s musical landscape quite like You Am I. Three decades after the release of their landmark album Hourly, Daily, the Sydney rock institution is revisiting one of its defining records with a fresh perspective, announcing the STRUNG UP tour for October and November.

The special east coast run will see Tim Rogers and company joined by a string quartet as they reinterpret selections from Hourly, Daily alongside fan favourites and deep cuts drawn from across their storied catalogue. Rather than simply recreating the album, the performances promise to uncover new dimensions within songs that have long occupied a cherished place in Australian music.

The tour begins with a milestone of its own: You Am I’s first-ever performance in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on October 18. From there, the band will head to Brisbane’s Tivoli for two nights before concluding with a pair of performances at Melbourne Recital Centre in November.

Released in 1996, Hourly, Daily remains one of the defining Australian albums of the decade. Debuting at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, it showcased a band expanding beyond the ragged swagger of their earlier work, embracing richer arrangements, sharper storytelling and a distinctly Australian perspective that continues to resonate today.

Frontman Tim Rogers has described the opportunity to revisit the material through orchestral collaboration as both exciting and invigorating.

“Our peculiar brand of musical thuggery has oft been blessed by instrumental finery,” Rogers says. “Working with musicians of less traditional RnR stripe is thrilling and invigorating. Pomp and circumstance with our grubby thumping heart pushing the bunch of us forever onward.”

The celebrations extend beyond the stage. To mark the album’s 30th anniversary, Hourly, Daily will receive a vinyl reissue alongside Dailies, Seconds, a companion collection featuring 14 B-sides and demos from the era, offering a deeper glimpse into one of the band’s most creative periods.

For a group whose reputation has been built on the raw energy of live performance, STRUNG UP presents a rare opportunity to hear familiar songs reframed in a completely new setting. Thirty years on from Hourly, Daily, You Am I continue to prove that great songs can withstand reinvention while retaining the character that made them endure in the first place.