UK ska veterans Madness are bringing their house of fun back to Australia across late February and early March 2027. It will mark their first shows locally in almost exactly a decade, having last toured in April 2017 as part of that year’s Bluesfest.
While in the Oceania region, the band will also notably make a return to New Zealand – where they will have not performed in a whopping 46 years by the time they get there, having last played there in May 1981.
The band’s Australian tour itinerary includes a stop at our House – the Sydney Opera House, that is, with the band making their debut in the iconic venue’s Forecourt. Ben Marshall, the Sydney Opera House’s Head of Contemporary Music, described the booking as a personal “dream come true”.
“Few bands have turned pure, unadulterated joy into something so brilliantly subversive and enduring as Madness,” he said in a press statement.
“I first saw them aged 10, performing ‘House of Fun’ on TV, and can still remember thinking: ‘What was that? I want to watch it again!’ Their infectious mayhem didn’t just spearhead the 2 tone ska subculture: they reconstructed the DNA of British pop music with a raw, sharp-witted class consciousness wrapped in ska syncopation.”
Since Madness were last in Australia, they have released one new studio album – Theatre of the Absurd Presents C’est la Vie, their 13th overall.
Released in November of 2023, the album reached the top of the UK albums chart – marking the first of the band’s to ever do so, having come as close as number two on classic albums like 1979’s One Step Beyond… and number five as recently as 2016’s Can’t Touch Us Now.
The band’s most recent release was Hit Parade in November 2025 – a comprehensive retrospective release, compiling 45 of the band’s songs to commemorate their 45th anniversary as a band.
Madness All Abroad! 2027 Australia & New Zealand Tour
- Saturday, February 27th – Fremantle, Esplanade Park
- Tuesday, March 2nd – Brisbane, Cultural Forecourt
- Friday, March 5th – Sydney, Opera House Forecourt
- Sunday, March 7th – Adelaide, Botanic Park
- Tuesday, March 9th – Melbourne, Palace Foreshore
- Friday, March 12th – Auckland, Spark Arena
- Saturday, March 13th – Christchurch, Wolfbrook Arena
A presale for the Sydney show will go on sale from 9am AEST for Sydney Opera House Insiders on Tuesday, September 22nd. A general presale will follow for all shows from 9am local time on Wednesday, September 23rd. All tickets go on general sale at 9am local time on Thursday, September 24th. The Insiders presale can be accessed here; all other sales via Handsome Tours here.
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