Melbourne Music Week Full Program Revealed

Purple Disturbance, the fierce and uncompromising post-punk/alt-rock four-piece from New South Wales, have officially joined forces with New World Artists, the booking agency behind some of Australia’s most trailblazing acts. For a young band already turning heads with their volatile live shows and razor-edged songs, this deal puts them on a major platform heading into 2026.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will return home to Australia in January 2026 with the official announcement today of their Wild God Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand tour. The run of shows will be the band’s first in the region since 2022 and will bring their acclaimed Wild God album to life for local audiences.

Sammy Hagar has always had a reputation for surrounding himself with powerhouse players, but his upcoming live album, Sammy Hagar & The Best Of All Worlds Band – The Residency (out October 10, 2025 via Big Machine Rock), brings a distinctly Australian twist. On keyboards, vocals and guitar is Rai Thistlethwayte, best known at home for fronting Thirsty Merc and more recently as a member of The Fabulous Caprettos. For Australian fans, the inclusion of Thistlethwayte in Hagar’s latest chapter is a striking reminder of how far the Sydney-born musician’s career has travelled.

Nick Cave has let slip what Aussie fans have been hoping to hear for months: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds will return to Australia in January 2026 for the Wild God tour. In a recent post on his Red Hand Files website, Cave revealed the news with typical candour, writing:

Jon Stevens has been quietly heading towards a new album, feeding fans a song a week. This week, he is at week four with ‘Paradise’.

Melbourne’s deep funk heavyweights Cookin’ on 3 Burners are back with a brand new double-sided 7”, the first taste of their forthcoming studio album Cookin’ The Books (out October 31 on Soul Messin’ Records).

Sydney five-piece The Rubens are celebrating a milestone in Australian music with the 10th anniversary reissue of their career-defining second album, Hoops. Originally released in 2015, Hoops was the record that propelled the Menangle, NSW group back to the Top 10. Now, a decade later, the album reached no 2 on the album chart, a Hottest 100 number one, and multiple platinum singles, is getting a fresh vinyl pressing with reimagined artwork.