A chance meeting with a fan who had lyrics tattooed in memory of his late wife prompted Mick Thomas to revisit the last single from Weddings Parties Anything’s final album nearly three decades later.
Mick Thomas has brought a long-shelved Weddings Parties Anything song back into the light for a new split single with Hana and Jessie-Lee’s Bad Habits, released the same week his Roving Commission opens its annual GoChristmasComeBack tour.
The single pairs Thomas’s “(Still) Don’t Need Much” with “Somebody’s Fool” from the Melbourne duo who shared stages with him last year. It lands on 2 November via Bandcamp and other platforms, with pre-orders already open. Buyers receive the two studio tracks immediately, followed by four live bonus recordings and the physical 7-inch on release day.
“Don’t Need Much” was the final single from Weddings Parties Anything’s last album in 1996. The song, which Thomas has described as being about keeping expectations in check and valuing what life offers rather than settling for less, was recorded, re-recorded and remixed under pressure. It received little airplay. By the time the band wound down a few years later it had vanished from the live set.
Nearly thirty years on, Thomas met a punter at a desert festival who had two lines from the song tattooed on his arm. The lyrics marked the memory of a wife who had died and a chapter of his life that had closed. The encounter sent Thomas back to the original writing, the feelings that produced it, and the woman it was about. With his current Roving Commission line-up the song simply needed to be played again. It is, in his words, just a simple love song.
The four digital bonus tracks were recorded when the artists shared a bill at Lefty’s in Brisbane in December 2025. Two come from Hana and Jessie-Lee’s set. The other two feature the pair sitting in with the Roving Commission on “For a Short Time” and David McComb’s “Wide Open Road”.
Ten golden tickets are hidden in the first pressing. Prizes range from handwritten lyric sheets and personalised video performances to an embroidered pennant from Hana, show tickets and a ten-song request Zoom concert.
The release coincides with the start of the GoChristmasComeBack tour, which opens on Friday 6 November at the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine. Special guests throughout are Melbourne alt-folk outfit Norwood. Olivia Bolmat of Norwood also plays in Thomas’s revived holiday band Shackleton3 alongside him and Anna Burley of the Killjoys. The Melbourne show at the Corner Hotel on 19 December doubles as the split-single launch, with Hana and Jessie-Lee’s Bad Habits on the bill. The traditional New Year’s Day All In Brawl at Archie’s Creek Hotel on 1 January 2027 features Norwood, Charlotte Le Lievre, a Kylie Auldist dance set and MC Henry Wagons.
Thomas and the Roving Commission arrive at the tour after a busy period that included the late-2025 ARIA Top 40 album GoComeBack, a solo GoSoloComeBack run and the launch of his Substack newsletter The Top Paddock. The Christmas run remains a fixture built around connection, tradition and the chance to gather with familiar and new faces.
The split single is available to pre-order now at mickthomas.bandcamp.com.
Mick Thomas’ Roving Commission GoChristmasComeBack Tour
Fri Nov 6 Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, Vic
Sat Nov 7 Young Street Tavern, Frankston, Vic
Fri Nov 13 Birregurra Hall, Vic
Sat Nov 14 Arco Bar, Heatherton, Vic
Sat Nov 21 Whalers Bandroom, Warrnambool, Vic
Thu Nov 26 Smiths Alternative, Canberra
Fri Nov 27 The Servo, Port Kembla, NSW
Sat Nov 28 Marrickville Bowling Club, Sydney, NSW
Sun Nov 29 Hamilton Station, Newcastle, NSW
Sat Dec 5 Wallaby Hotel, Mudgeeraba, QLD
Sun Dec 6 Lefty’s Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD
Thu Dec 10 The Wheatsheaf, Adelaide, SA
Fri Dec 11 Mojo’s, Fremantle, WA
Sat Dec 12 Oxford Hotel, Perth, WA
Sun Dec 13 Oxford Hotel, Perth, WA
Thu Dec 17 Hepburn Palais, Hepburn Springs, Vic
Fri Dec 18 Eureka Hotel, Geelong, Vic with Norwood + The Ferriters
Sat Dec 19 Corner Hotel, Melbourne, Vic with Norwood + Hana & Jessie-Lee’s Bad Habits Split Single launch
Fri Jan 1 2027 Archie’s Creek Hotel, Vic – New Year’s Day traditional All In Brawl with Norwood + Charlotte Le Lievre + Kylie Auldist Dance Set + MC Henry Wagons
Tickets available through www.mickthomas.com
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