Australia’s Wildlands Festival will travel coast-to-coast at year’s end with a bill headlined by John Summit and Skepta.
They’re joined on the lineup by the likes of WORSHIP, in their Australian debut; DJ KI/KI; Disco Lines and many more.
The single-day electronic and dance-leaning show will get underway at Brisbane Showgrounds with a New Year’s Eve party on Thursday, Dec. 31, then crosses the country to Perth — a distance of about 2,700 miles – for a full show Saturday Jan. 2 at Arena Joondalup.
“Both Wildlands events will feature reimagined stage designs and updated site layout,” reads a statement from organizers Untitled Group.
The Sahara Stage returns as an open-air experience with production and a DJ setup built for the southern “summer sky,” the message reads, while the Summit Stage returns as a tented experience with live elements worked in. A new arrival, The Wilds Stage is meant to give concert-goers on-stage access alongside the DJs for “an intimate, up-close experience.”
Dance music festivals are the most numerous, and most popular in Australia’s contemporary festivals landscape, accounting for roughly one-quarter of Australia’s 500-plus fests.
Aussie audiences will get multiple chances to see the likes of Summit, KI/KI and Skepta next summer. They’re all performing at the Beyond the Valley (also produced by Untitled) in Barunah Plains in Victoria, and Lost Paradise (Finely Tuned), presented in Glenworth Valley, New South Wales.
Wildlands is supported by the federal government initiative, Revive Live. The official presale goes on sale Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 6pm local time, and the general on sale starts 24 hours later.
Wildlands:
Dec. 31, 2026 — Brisbane Showgrounds (Brisbane/Meanjin
Jan, 2, 2027 — Arena Joondalup (Perth/Boorloo)
Full lineup A-Z:
Anetha B2B SPFDJ
Benwal B2B Kyle Starkey
Dean Turnley
Disco Lines
Ewan McVicar
Frost Children
Funk Tribu
Groove Junction (Perth)
Hamdi
Hannah Laing
John Summit
KI/KI
KT (Perth)
Layton Giordani
Lens
MPH
MYASWRLD (Brisbane)
Nia Archives
nikitasilly (Brisbane)
Oppidan
Overmono
Robert Baxter
Saint Ludo
Skepta
WORSHIP (Australian Exclusive)
Yikes
Presented by Untitled Group, Beyond The Valley and triple j
U.S. DJ and producer John Summit, British emcee Skepta and Dutch dancefloor maestro KI/KI are among the big names confirmed for Lost Paradise, the beloved Australian electronic music festival that rings in the New Year.
Also set to pump out the tunes at the 2026 edition are Overmono, Armand Van Helden, Nia Archives, Ewan McVicar, Sam Alfred, Rossi., Partiboi69 and many others.
Presented across the five days from Dec. 28 to Jan. 1 in Glenworth Valley, New South Wales, roughly an hour’s drive from Sydney, Lost Paradise is coming off four consecutive sell-outs.
The festival, reads a statement from organizers Finely Tuned, “exists on a simple set of principles: eco-conscious, music-centred, community-built and wellness-first.”
Lost Paradise launched in 2014, and today stands out as one of the state’s last-remaining camping festivals.
While Australia’s festivals scene is in a spin cycle, with popular brands including Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass, and many others either collapsing or taking a hiatus, dance music events play to a different beat.
Creative Australia’s Soundcheck report from 2024 mapped the nation’s festivals circuit. Of the 500 plus festivals in the market, dance music was found to be most popular genre, accounting for almost one in every four fests in these parts.
General admission camping access is included with all tickets purchased, while optional “glamping” accommodation options will be announced in due course.
Three-day GA is priced at A$569.99 (A$27.57 fee) and four-day tickets cost A$639.99 (plus A$28.50 fee). Presales begin Tuesday, Aug. 4 from 10am AEST, and the general admission onsale starts at the same time the following day, Wednesday, Aug. 5.
Lost Paradise
Monday Dec. 28 – Friday, Jan. 1 2027
Glenworth Valley (Darkinjung Country)
Lineup
John Summit, Skepta, KI/KI, Overmono, Armand Van Helden, Nia Archives, Ewan McVicar, Sam Alfred, Rossi., Partiboi69
A-Z:
Benwal, Caleb Jackson, Chaos In The Cbd, Dameeeela, Dart, Dean Turnley, DJ Seinfeld (Live), Drifting Clouds, Flava D, Hamdi, Harry Hayes, Helena Lauwaert, Hot Dub Time Machine, Jamback, James Pepper B2B Baron Von Trax, Jayda G, Job Jobse, The Jungle Giants, Kirollus, Kyle Starkey, Loods, Luuk Van Dijk, Memphis Lk, Mella Dee, Ned Bennett, Not Without Friends (Ext. Set), Osmosis Jones, Pretty Girl (Live), Riordan, Saint Ludo, Salute, Soul Mass Transit System, Stacie Fields, Supergloss, Tommy Holohan, Twofaced, Willo
Arianna Sunshine, Bella Backe, Callyy, Casual P, Couch Mechanic, Cricket, Delulu, DJ Macaroni, Disco Dora, Elijah Something, Gmoz, Jacqui Cunningham, Jose Hot Plate, Kai Kawai, Kira Sunday, Lily FM, Lost Soundsystem, Madame Rêve, Mash B2B Harley Ferris, Mimi J, Miphi, Only Child, Partigirl, Penelope, Sasha Milani, Sim Select, Tia Lacoste, Troy Beman, Zacattacq
Presented by Finely Tuned
Beyond the Valley, billed as Australia’s largest multi-day music festival, has revealed the lineup for its 11th edition, led by John Summit, the Black Eyed Peas, KI/KI and Skepta.
The festival returns to Barunah Plains in Victoria from Dec. 28 through Jan. 1, 2027, after selling out in under an hour last year. U.S. dance producer John Summit takes the New Year’s Eve countdown slot, while the Black Eyed Peas will play an Australian-exclusive show. Dutch DJ KI/KI and British grime pioneer Skepta — returning to the festival for the first time since 2019/20 — also feature high on the bill.
The lineup spans dance, hip-hop, pop and rock across five days, with Ocean Alley, Overmono, Disco Lines, Nia Archives, Armand Van Helden, The Veronicas, Vince Staples, Frost Children, SPFDJ, Jayda G, salute, southstar, Odd Mob and Dean Turnley among the acts announced. The daily bill also features The Jungle Giants, Boys Noize, Rum Jungle, Ewan McVicar, Job Jobse and dozens more across the festival’s stages.
The 2026/27 edition is presented by Untitled Group and triple j. Its daily headline structure places John Summit and the Black Eyed Peas on Dec. 31, Ocean Alley and Overmono on Dec. 30, Skepta, Disco Lines and Nia Archives on Dec. 29, and a three-hour KI/KI set on Dec. 28.
At the top of the bill sits some of the biggest commercial firepower in recent pop history. The Black Eyed Peas remain one of the best-selling acts of the 21st century, having sold an estimated 80 million records and scored three consecutive Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s in 2009 with “Boom Boom Pow,” “I Gotta Feeling” and “Imma Be” — the first two combining for a then-record 26 consecutive weeks atop the chart.
Their album The E.N.D. debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. John Summit has become one of dance music’s most in-demand live draws, topping Billboard’s Dance/Electronic charts and headlining arenas and festivals worldwide, while Skepta remains a defining figure of British grime, having won the Mercury Prize for 2016’s Konnichiwa and reached the Billboard Hot 100 through his feature on A$AP Rocky’s double-platinum “Praise the Lord (Da Shine).”
It would be a cliché to call Smokey Robinson and Gladys Knight “national treasures,” but both most certainly are. Both have been music royalty longer than many of the fans at their Hollywood Bowl concert on Friday (July 24) have been alive. Robinson and his band, The Miracles, first cracked the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1961 with “Shop Around.” Knight and her group, The Pips, first cracked the top 10 on that chart five months later with the doo-wop-shaded “Every Beat of My Heart.”
Robinson, 86, and Knight, 82, both have musical legacies that are strong and secure. (Both of their groups ranked in the top 20 on Billboard‘s list “The 50 Best R&B Groups of All Time: Staff Picks,” which was published last month.) The only question now is: How are they in concert in 2026?
Robinson hasn’t lost a step. He sang well, moved well and was a master showman. He is duly recognized as one of our greatest songwriters, but he may be under-recognized as a live performer. He was spry and agile throughout his headlining set. He was also personable, speaking warmly about Knight, who he said he’s known since they were teenagers (“one of the greatest voices of our time”) and doing a spot-on and very funny impression of Stevie Wonder’s head-turning mannerisms (by way of introducing “The Tears of a Clown,” which the two music legends cowrote with Henry Cosby). That song, Robinson’s only No. 1 Hot 100 hit as a performer, may be the most ebullient-sounding song ever written about a heartbroken man.
My only criticism of Robinson’s set: An audience participation bit on “Cruisin’” (which side of the house can sing louder?) that was tedious and endless. For this tired exercise, he left out such gems as “Shop Around,” “Mickey’s Monkey” and “More Love”?
Knight still has moments where she can summon the fire and passion that have made her such a beloved singer for so many years. But many of her songs were truncated and re-arranged to better suit her current capabilities. She relied heavily on her three back-up singers, who even took lead parts on occasion. She didn’t introduce them, or any of her six musicians, or speak to the audience in any meaningful way beyond banalities like “you’re so beautiful.” She never mentioned Robinson. Knight has been one of my favorite singers since I first got into music. She is truly a one-of-a-kind singer, capable of both thrilling firepower and conversational ease, often in the same song. But she barely got through this show, and only by leaning heavily on her backup singers. Artists need to know when it’s time to bow out gracefully.
Here are seven highlights from Robinson and Knight’s opening night performance at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday (July 24). It was the first of two nights of their show, dubbed “Just the Two of Us.” And no, they didn’t perform together or include that 1981 Grover Washington Jr./Bill Withers collab in either of their individual sets. (A missed opportunity.)
Live Nation is partnering with the NFL to bring live music to Australia’s first regular-season NFL game week.
The NFL Melbourne Game Kickoff Festival presented by American Express will take over Melbourne Park from Thursday, Sept. 10, through Saturday, Sept. 12, surrounding the Los Angeles Rams’ matchup against the San Francisco 49ers at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, Sept. 11.
The three-day event will include daily entertainment and music performances from Australian artists and local DJs, with a headline act each evening included as part of the festival ticket. The full artist lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.
The festival marks a major entertainment push around the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, turning Melbourne Park into a game-week hub with live music, watch parties, fan activations, retail pop-ups, Flag Football clinics, American-style food and NFL exhibits.
“The NFL’s first regular season game in Australia is a landmark moment, and Live Nation is proud to help build the excitement around it with a game-week experience that matches the scale of the occasion,” Luke Hede, senior vice president of touring and commercial at Live Nation Australia, said in a statement.
“The Kickoff Festival will bring together live music, entertainment and the unmistakable energy of the NFL, giving fans a new way to be part of the action. From Melbourne Park to the MCG, this will be a truly memorable celebration for fans across the city.”
Charlotte Offord, NFL general manager for Australia and New Zealand, said the festival is designed for fans attending the game and those who want to be part of the wider celebration.
“The Kickoff Festival promises to be an action-packed experience for sports fans of all ages,” Offord said. “Whether fans are attending the game or not, this event is the perfect way to get a taste of the NFL, be part of the celebrations and enjoy what we know is going to be an incredible few days in Melbourne.
The Kickoff Festival will also host the official watch party for the 2026 NFL season opener, when the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks, host the New England Patriots at Lumen Field on Thursday, Sept. 10, in a Super Bowl LX rematch. A separate official watch party will be held for fans not attending the Rams-49ers game at the MCG.
Beyond music, the event will feature appearances from NFL figures, including a live Q&A with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, activations from the Rams and 49ers, and appearances from NFL Australia and New Zealand Global Markets Program clubs, including the Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks and Las Vegas Raiders.
Fans will also be able to take photos with all 60 Super Bowl rings and the Vince Lombardi Trophy, test their skills at the NFL Academy Combine Zone and watch Flag Football programming at Kia Arena, including clinics, school visits, a celebrity game and Australia vs. New Zealand men’s and women’s national Flag Football games.
American Express Card Members will have access to presale tickets from Monday, July 27, at 10 a.m. AEST through Wednesday, July 29, at 10 a.m. AEST, while supplies last. General tickets go on sale via Ticketmaster on Wednesday, July 29, at 11 a.m. AEST.
Adult tickets are priced at $49 for Thursday and Saturday sessions and $59 for Friday. Kids 13 and under can attend free with an accompanying adult ticket.
The Los Angeles Rams will face the San Francisco 49ers at the MCG on Friday, Sept. 11, at 10:35 a.m. AEST.
Budjerah is taking Gentleman from the studio to the stage. The Australian singer-songwriter has announced The Gentleman Tour, a run of October and November dates arriving just months after the release of his debut album Gentleman, due Friday (July 24).
The tour begins Saturday, Oct. 31, at The Espy in Melbourne, before heading to Anglesea, Sydney and the Gold Coast. It wraps Saturday, Nov. 21, at The Triffid Beer Garden in Brisbane.
For Budjerah, the tour marks a new chapter after years spent growing in public — from teenage breakthrough talent to Platinum-certified, two-time ARIA Award winner, and now to an artist preparing to release his first full-length statement.
“I’m so excited to be going on tour again!” Budjerah said in a statement. “Being on stage is my favourite part of my job and I can’t wait to see my fans again. When I was making the album, it was with the live performance in mind and I just want to give everyone the best night of their life.”
That live-first approach sits at the heart of Gentleman. Produced by Grammy Award winner Om’Mas Keith, whose credits include Frank Ocean and Jay-Z, the 11-track album draws from the pop and R&B Budjerah grew up loving while tracing the personal growth he experienced between ages 20 and 24.
The album is led by “Even At Worst,” “Could I Be,” “Gentleman” and “Want You Back,” songs that place Budjerah’s voice — warm, elastic and built for big emotional turns — at the center of the record.
The project also brings him into orbit with a heavyweight group of collaborators, including Poo Bear, Diane Warren, Philip Lawrence, Rob Lewis, Autumn Rowe and Alex Burnett. Rather than framing Gentleman as a simple debut, the rollout positions it as the arrival of an artist who has spent years collecting the right songs, lessons and confidence to step fully into his own sound.
Before the tour begins, Budjerah will mark the album release with a run of free stripped-back performances and signings at independent record stores. He will appear at Hum On King in Newtown, NSW, on Sunday, July 26, Badlands Vinyl in Tweed Heads, NSW, on Tuesday, July 28, and Sound Merch in Collingwood, VIC, on Wednesday, July 29.
Presale tickets for The Gentleman Tour are on sale now, with general tickets available Thursday, July 23, at 10 a.m. AEST.
The full tour dates are below:
Saturday, Oct. 31 — The Espy, Melbourne, VIC
Sunday, Nov. 1 — The Sound Doctor, Anglesea, VIC
Saturday, Nov. 7 — Metro Social, Sydney, NSW
Friday, Nov. 20 — Miami Marketta, Gold Coast, QLD
Saturday, Nov. 21 — The Triffid Beer Garden, Brisbane, QLD
FISHER will bring his chart-topping dance sound back to Flemington Racecourse this year, with the Australian DJ-producer set to headline the closing party for the 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival.
The Victoria Racing Club announced Monday (July 20) that FISHER will perform at The Elms Live Stage presented by Maccas on TAB Champions Stakes Day, Saturday, Nov. 7. The set will take place after the final race of the Carnival, with entry included in the price of a General Admission ticket.
The booking brings one of Australia’s biggest dance exports back to Flemington after his 2025 appearance helped establish The Elms Live Stage as a major post-race music destination. This year, the Off the Rails closing party will again see the rails of the famous Flemington racecourse opened after racing concludes, allowing crowds to gather for FISHER’s festival-style set.
“FISHER delivered the most electrifying and memorable performance for thousands of event goers at Flemington last year, and we can’t wait for him to return to headline the Off the Rails party celebrating the final day of the 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival, complementing world-class racing on TAB Champions Stakes Day,” VRC chief executive officer Kylie Rogers said in a statement.
FISHER broke through internationally with “Losing It,” the 2018 tech-house track that spent 17 weeks on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart and hit No. 1 in December 2018. The song also earned a Grammy nomination for best dance recording.
Since then, the Gold Coast-born artist has become a major festival and club draw, known for high-volume house sets and an irreverent stage presence that has made him a fixture across global dance circuits.
“Last year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival closing party was epic; the crowd was electric,” FISHER said. “I can’t wait to do it all again at Flemington Racecourse on November 7. Giddy up.”
The 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival begins with Howden Victoria Derby Day on Saturday, Oct. 31, followed by Lexus Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, Crown Oaks Day on Thursday, Nov. 5, and TAB Champions Stakes Day on Saturday, Nov. 7.
VRC said more Melbourne Cup Carnival entertainment announcements will be revealed soon.
Australia’s Spilt Milk festival has officially confirmed its return for 2026, kicking off its next festival campaign with a teaser video after months of silence following last year’s sold-out edition.
Shared across the festival’s social media channels on Friday (July 17), the clip features members of the public being asked to name their favorite Australian music festivals before cutting to footage of a packed festival crowd and a large-scale stage production. The video ends with the confirmation that Spilt Milk will return in 2026, though organisers have yet to announce dates, locations or a lineup.
The announcement launches the festival’s 2026 campaign following a successful 2025 edition, which sold out across all four host cities: Ballarat, Perth, Canberra and the Gold Coast.
Last year’s lineup was headlined by Kendrick Lamar and featured Doechii, Dominic Fike, Sara Landry, ScHoolboy Q, sombr, Nessa Barrett, Don West and more. Organizers later expanded the bill with Genesis Owusu, Larissa Lambert and Lotte Gallagher ahead of the December run.
Demand for the festival remained high throughout the campaign. Before tickets went on sale, organisers warned that presale registrations had exceeded the number of tickets available, with all four events ultimately selling out.
Launched in Canberra in 2016, Spilt Milk has grown into one of Australia’s largest touring festivals, expanding to Ballarat and the Gold Coast in 2019 before adding Perth in 2023. The 2019 Ballarat event also marked Juice WRLD’s final live performance, taking place one week before the rapper’s death.
Like much of Australia’s live music sector, the festival paused during the COVID-19 pandemic before returning in 2022. Organisers skipped the 2024 edition amid a challenging period for the festival market, which also saw several prominent Australian events either cancelled or placed on hiatus.
Previous editions have featured artists including Post Malone, Lorde, Flume, Khalid, Steve Lacy, Latto, Dom Dolla, FISHER and Peach PRC.
Bryan Adams will punch on when his Roll With The Punches world tour sweeps into Australia next February and March, for what will be his second full-scale trek of these parts within two years.
The veteran Canadian rocker will play arenas in seven cities on both sides of the Tasman, with Australian pop artist Natalie Imbruglia locked in as “special guest.”
As it stands, the ANZ leg of Adams’ Roll With The Punches trek gets underway Feb. 23, 2027 at Perth’s RAC Arena, then heads to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Auckland and wraps up March 12 at Christchurch’s Wolfbrook Arena.
Frontier Touring is producing the shows, which follow Adams’ early 2025 visit for what turned out to be one of his biggest tours to-date of these parts.
The forthcoming tour is in support of Adams’ 16th and latest studio album, Roll With The Punches, which dropped last August on the singer and songwriter’s own Bad Records label, and peaked at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart.
Adams powered through 140 shows worldwide last year, and will play dates in the United States, Canada and Europe in the months ahead before heading down Under in the southern summer.
Tickets go on sale Monday, 20 July at 12pm local via frontiertouring.com/bryanadams.
Bryan Adams’ 2027 ‘Roll With The Punches’ Tour of Australia and New Zealand:
Feb. 23 — RAC Arena, Perth
Feb. 26 – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
March 1 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
March 4 — Adelaide Entertainment Centre
March 5 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
March 10 — Spark Arena, Auckland
March 12 — Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch
On the second night of his three-day residency at Yankee Stadium, Jay-Z performed the album that solidified his spot as not only the King of New York, but the King of Rap. The Blueprint, turns 25 this year, and tonight fans were reminded that it is a relentless onslaught of triumphant and braggadocios records like “Hola Hovito” and “All I Need” with some of his best street records like “U Don’t Know” and “Never Change” mixed in.
The Brooklyn rapper performed them all, and like the first night, he did it with the help of a couple special guests sprinkled in who themselves added a song or two to the set list.
Slick Rick was the first guest to make an appearance when he came out to do “La Di Dadi” and “Children’s Story” after Jay opened the show with “The Ruler’s Back.” He then brought out Eminem to assist on their collab “Renegade” with the Detroit rapper surprising the crowd with a performance of his smash single “Loose Yourself.”
And finally, towards the end of the show, he had Pharrell as the night’s last guest and the duo did a bunch of the songs that they’ve done together. They did tracks like like “Frontin,” Excuse Me Miss,” “Give It to Me” and “Allure,” which of course, sent the audience into a tizzy. As a matter of fact, the crowd was engaged all night and sang along to damn near every one of the nearly 30 songs that were performed. With two nights down, there’s no telling what the Jigga Man has in store for fans on the last night of this once in a lifetime weekend.
Check out the full setlist from Night Two of Jay-Z’s three-night Yankee Stadium run below.