Alt-rock veterans Garbage have confirmed the much-anticipated return to Australia and New Zealand, announcing four theatre shows in December 2025 in Auckland, Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. These dates mark the band’s first headline tour in Australia since 2016, and their first appearance in New Zealand’s main centres in over a decade.
Shirley Manson, Duke Erikson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig have collectively sold in excess of 20 million albums worldwide over their storied career, thanks to a catalogue of era-defining hits that include Only Happy When It Rains, Stupid Girl, Vow and I Think I’m Paranoid. These upcoming shows will take place in ornate venues, culminating in a closing night on the stage of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.
“To return to such sacred ground, New Zealand and Australia is truly special for us,” Manson said in a statement. “We have been aching to get back to that part of the world, and this tour will be played every night in honour of Michael Gudinski, whose spirit looms large over our time there.”
Garbage will present these shows in support of their eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, released on 30 May 2025. The band has already been touring North America since September, before heading later this year to Mexico and wrapping their U.S. run in Los Angeles ahead of the southern hemisphere leg.
Critics say Garbage are in formidable shape live, with recent reviews praising their neon-lit, gothic-statue stage setup and their continued ability to command a room with power and poise.
Formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993, Garbage emerged as a studio-side project for producer Butch Vig, fresh from his work on Nevermind, along with Duke Erikson and Steve Marker. They recruited Scottish singer Shirley Manson, formerly of Angelfish, after spotting her performance on MTV’s 120 Minutes.
Their 1995 self-titled debut was a critical and commercial breakthrough, reaching number one in New Zealand and number four in Australia, going double platinum in both markets. Its singles Only Happy When It Rains and Stupid Girl became international radio staples, buoyed by heavy MTV rotation.
Their sophomore effort, Version 2.0 (1998), pushed the band further into electronic rock territory and topped the UK Albums Chart, garnering multiple Grammy nominations. Over their subsequent career, Garbage has navigated creative reinventions: Beautiful Garbage (2001) explored experimental pop textures, Bleed Like Me (2005) returned to a rawer, guitar-led sound, and after a short hiatus, they reunited to release Not Your Kind of People (2012), Strange Little Birds (2016) and No Gods No Masters (2021).
Throughout it all, they have remained a band unafraid to straddle genres – combining alternative rock, electronic textures, industrial and trip-hop influences into a distinctive sound that has shaped modern rock’s evolution.
The lead single There’s No Future in Optimism debuted in April 2025, combining alt-rock bite with an electronic backbone and lyrics exploring the tension between despair and possibility. Another standout, Get Out My Face AKA Bad Kitty, has been interpreted as a feminist call to arms, while the closer The Day That I Met God is a poignant meditation on faith and mortality.
Tour Dates & Ticketing
Garbage – Australian & New Zealand Tour, December 2025
Wednesday 3 December – Town Hall, Auckland, NZ (All Ages)
Thursday 11 December – Palais Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Friday 12 December – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, SA
Sunday 14 December – Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, NSW
Frontier Member presale starts 21 October (10 am local), tickets on general sale 22 October (1 pm local) at frontiertouring.com/garbage.
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