Public Image Ltd have opened ticket sales for their January 2027 Australian and New Zealand tour, with John Lydon’s post-punk group preparing for their first local dates in more than a decade. Recent European setlists suggest fans can expect material spanning the band’s entire catalogue, from 1978’s First Issue through to later era releases including What The World Needs Now….
by Paul Cashmere
Public Image Ltd tickets are now on sale for the band’s January 2027 Australian and New Zealand tour, the first time John Lydon has brought PiL to the region since 2013 and the first New Zealand performances since 1989. The dates are part of the ongoing This Is Not… The Final PiL Tour, a title that continues the band’s long-running rejection of conventional career narratives and neat conclusions.
The upcoming run arrives with renewed interest in Public Image Ltd’s live show following a string of European performances that have leaned heavily into the breadth of the catalogue. A setlist performed in Belgium on 5 May 2026 indicates Australian audiences are likely to see a cross-section of PiL history, moving between the abrasive experimentalism of the late 1970s, the more melodic mid-1980s material and later era recordings from the group’s post-2009 revival.
The current line-up, John Lydon on vocals, Bruce Smith on drums, Lu Edmonds on guitar and Scott Firth on bass, has remained intact since the 2009 reformation. That stability has given the band a more disciplined live framework than the volatile early years, while still preserving the confrontational edge that defined PiL’s reputation during the original run from 1978 to 1992.
The Belgium performance opened with ‘Home’, the reflective centrepiece from 1986’s Album, before shifting between eras with tracks such as ‘Poptones’, ‘Death Disco’ and ‘Flowers Of Romance’. The inclusion of newer songs including ‘Know Now’, ‘Corporate’ and ‘Shoom’ from 2015’s What The World Needs Now… suggests the tour is not being positioned as a nostalgia exercise. Lydon has consistently framed Public Image Ltd as an active recording and touring entity rather than a heritage act revisiting former glories.
The setlist also points to a strong emphasis on the band’s foundational recordings. ‘Public Image’, ‘Annalisa’, ‘Attack’ and ‘Chant’ all date back to the period surrounding First Issue and Metal Box, albums that reshaped post-punk by integrating dub-informed basslines, tape manipulation and unconventional song structures. Metal Box in particular remains one of the defining albums of the genre and its influence continues to stretch across alternative rock, industrial music and electronic experimentation.
At the same time, the set demonstrates how PiL’s later commercial period remains central to the live identity of the band. ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ and ‘Rise’ became crossover successes during the mid-1980s without fully abandoning the abrasive undercurrent that separated PiL from mainstream rock contemporaries. ‘Open Up’, Lydon’s 1993 collaboration with Leftfield, also remains a live staple and reflects the long-standing connection between Public Image Ltd and electronic music culture.
The unpredictability of PiL performances has always been part of the mythology surrounding the band. Early American tours during 1980 became infamous for confrontational staging and hostile audience exchanges. While the present incarnation is musically tighter and more structured, the setlist choices still reflect the band’s refusal to settle into a fixed retrospective format. Songs are often rearranged in performance, with extended instrumental passages giving Edmonds and Firth space to push material beyond the studio versions.
Based on the Belgium performance, Australian and New Zealand audiences can expect a set balancing accessibility with experimentation. The sequencing of recognisable tracks such as ‘Rise’ and ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ alongside more abrasive works including ‘Flowers Of Romance’ and ‘Chant’ indicates PiL are still intent on challenging audiences rather than simply replaying familiar hits.
The title This Is Not… The Final PiL Tour also appears intentionally ambiguous. There has been no indication from the band that the current run represents a farewell. Instead, it continues the long-standing PiL tradition of undermining expectation and resisting categorisation. For Lydon, Public Image Ltd has consistently operated as a vehicle for reinvention rather than closure.
Recent Public Image Ltd Setlist, Belgium, 5 May 2026
Home, from Album, 1986
Know Now, from What The World Needs Now…, 2015
World Destruction, Time Zone single featuring John Lydon, 1985
This Is Not A Love Song, from This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get, 1984
Poptones, from Metal Box, 1979
Death Disco, from Metal Box, 1979
Corporate, from What The World Needs Now…, 2015
Flowers Of Romance, from The Flowers Of Romance, 1981
Warrior, from 9, 1989
Shoom, from What The World Needs Now…, 2015
Open Up, Leftfield single with John Lydon, 1993
Public Image, from First Issue, 1978
Rise, from Album, 1986
Encore:
Annalisa, from First Issue, 1978
Attack, from First Issue, 1978
Chant, from Metal Box, 1979
Public Image Ltd January 2027 Australian And New Zealand Tour Dates
Wednesday 20 January, Auckland, Powerstation
Friday 22 January, Brisbane, The Tivoli
Saturday 23 January, Sydney, Enmore Theatre
Sunday 24 January, Melbourne, Forum Melbourne
Tuesday 26 January, Adelaide, The Gov
Thursday 28 January, Perth, Astor Theatre
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