Australian instrumental icons Dirty Three will return to North American stages for the first time in 14 years, announcing a March-April 2026 tour across the United States and Canada. The run marks the Melbourne-formed trio’s first extensive shows outside Australia since the release of their 2024 album Love Changes Everything, the band’s first studio recording in 12 years.
The tour begins in Portland on 20 March and concludes in Montreal on 11 April, with stops including Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and New York. Their New York date lands 3 April at Pioneer Works, with tickets going on sale Friday 7 November at 10am local time.
For fans of the group’s sweeping instrumentals, emotionally raw crescendos and unrestrained dynamic flow, this long-overdue return is a milestone. Dirty Three’s absence from North American venues stretches back to 2012, an era when Toward the Low Sun offered what was then assumed to be their final chapter. Instead, Love Changes Everything has ignited a full reawakening.
Formed in Melbourne in 1992, Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White built Dirty Three into one of Australia’s most revered experimental rock exports. In a music landscape often defined by voices, Dirty Three forged a place where the violin howls, guitars sigh, and percussion becomes heartbeat, thunder and storm.
From early inner-city Melbourne shows to the Big Day Out, from underground venues to world stages, the group carved out a peerless identity. Their seminal 90s run – Sad & Dangerous, Horse Stories and Ocean Songs – reshaped expectations of instrumental music. Horse Stories was declared one of the year’s best by Rolling Stone in 1996, and Ocean Songs earned a place in 100 Best Australian Albums in 2010.
Live, they are a force. Nick Cave famously described them as a band that “ignite something” – equal parts chaos and poetry, where no single player dominates and every note is alive with risk.
Ellis’ now-legendary career with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, White’s collaborations with everyone from Cat Power to PJ Harvey, and Turner’s work as painter, solo musician and label head have only deepened the Dirty Three mythology. Their influence across alternative music, post-rock and boundary-pushing instrumental forms remains profound.
Dirty Three’s surprise return in 2024 with Love Changes Everything ended the longest silence of their career. Written and recorded after years of geographic distance – Ellis in Paris, White in New York, Turner in Melbourne – the album arrived as both a reconnection and a reawakening.
Australian audiences were first to witness the rediscovered energy when the band returned to the stage for national dates. Now, North America will receive the next chapter.
Before the U.S. and Canada, Dirty Three will also perform in the UK and Europe, marking their first European tour since 2016.
Meanwhile, drummer Jim White remains active on the road, including U.S. performances with Saints founder Ed Kuepper.
Considering these dates start 20 March in Portland, it is pretty safe to say an Austin date during SXSW March 12-18 2026 will be added ASAP.
Dirty Three – 2026 North American Tour Dates
Friday 20 March – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
Saturday 21 March – Seattle, WA – Neumos
Monday 23 March – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Tuesday 24 March – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey
Friday 27 March – Knoxville, TN – Big Ears Festival
Saturday 28 March – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
Monday 30 March – Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
Tuesday 31 March – Baltimore, MD – The Recher
Thursday 2 April – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
Friday 3 April – New York, NY – Pioneer Works
Saturday 4 April – Boston, MA – Sinclair
Monday 6 April – Detroit, MI – El Club
Wednesday 8 April – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall
Friday 10 April – Toronto, ON – Concert Hall
Saturday 11 April – Montreal, QC – Le Gesù
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first—Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
