backseat downunder
News: Grace Jones to Headline Sydney Opera House Forecourt in 2026
Grace Jones will play the Sydney Opera House Forecourt in February 2026, bringing her singular blend of avant-pop, performance art and untouchable charisma to a summer program already stacked with global heavyweights.
Live Gallery: Bar Italia Cast a Quiet Spell Over Sydney’s Metro Theatre with a Taut, Oblique Performance 10.12.2025
At Sydney’s Metro Theatre, bar italia turn the mystique of their early years into something bold and theatrical, delivering a blistering set that proves just how far they’ve evolved since their underground days. Powered by the new album Some Like It Hot, the trio move with confidence, heat and a newfound muscularity—transforming their spectral indie into a force built for big rooms.
News: BADBADNOTGOOD and Hannah Joy Join a Stacked Sydney Opera House Summer Line-Up
BADBADNOTGOOD and Middle Kids’ Hannah Joy have been added to the Sydney Opera House’s summer music program, with the Canadian trio set for a boundary-shifting Concert Hall debut and Joy performing her first-ever solo show in the Playhouse.
Live Gallery: Rebecca Black Transforms the Metro with a Dazzling, Genre-Smashing Performance 9.12.2025
At a sold-out Metro Theatre, Rebecca Black sheds the shadows of her past and emerges as a fully realised pop visionary, blending high-camp theatrics, club-driven production and emotional candour into one of her most commanding performances to date.
News: MARINA Announces First Australian Shows in 15 Years with Princess of Power Tour
MARINA returns to Australia for the first time in 15 years with the Princess of Power Tour, celebrating her latest album with headline shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, joined by Mallrat on select dates.
News: You Am I Frontman Tim Rogers Plots East Coast Solo Run Next March and April
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tim Rogers has announced the Le Charme Defensif tour, a set of intimate solo shows across the east coast in March and April, promising the wit, warmth and sharp songwriting that have cemented his reputation as one of Australia’s most distinctive performers.
Track: Jet’s Nic Cester Joins Måneskin’s Thomas Raggi and Tom Morello for High-Voltage New Single ‘Getcha!’
Nic Cester joins forces with Thomas Raggi, Tom Morello, Beck and Chad Smith on the powerhouse new single ‘Getcha!’, taken from Raggi’s debut album Masquerade. After a massive Australian tour with Lenny Kravitz, the Jet frontman steps boldly into a fresh creative chapter.
Live Gallery: Heat, Blood and Holy Noise: Good Things 2025 Burns Sydney Alive
Good Things 2025 arrives in Sydney like a heat-stricken carnival, pushing thousands of fans through a day of blistering sets from Garbage, Refused, Wargasm, Fever 333, Weezer, and Tool. From GWAR’s blood-spray theatrics to Shirley Manson’s searing stage presence and Maynard’s shadow-lurking mystique, the festival turns Olympic Park into a furnace of sound, sweat and defiance.
Live Review & Gallery: Lewis Capaldi Returns to Australia Bringing Tears and Triumph to Qudos Bank Arena – Eora Land/Sydney, 06.12.25
Eight years ago, Lewis Capaldi performed to a room of no more than 500 at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney’s CBD. (Funnily enough, just the night before, another young artist from across the pond known as YUNGBLUD had taken to that same stage). By 2020, Capaldi had graduated to playing for 5,000 fans at Hordern …
News: Tokyo Indie Breakouts DYGL Announce First Australian Tour
Tokyo indie outfit DYGL will make their long-awaited Australian debut in January 2026, bringing their sharp hooks, global pedigree and new album Who’s In The House to East Coast stages.