Soul Asylum will return to Australia for the first time since the mid 1990s, joining Ugly Kid Joe for a five-date co-headline tour in March 2027.
by Paul Cashmere
Soul Asylum and Ugly Kid Joe will tour Australia together for the first time in March 2027, with the five-date run marking Soul Asylum’s first Australian performances in more than three decades. The tour begins at Perth’s Astor Theatre on Monday 15 March and continues through Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney before concluding at Brisbane’s Tivoli on Sunday 21 March.
The announcement brings together two American rock bands whose commercial breakthroughs came in the early 1990s, but whose careers developed from distinctly different scenes. Soul Asylum emerged from Minneapolis’ punk and alternative community, eventually reaching a mainstream audience with the 1992 album Grave Dancers Union and its enduring single Runaway Train. Ugly Kid Joe came out of California’s hard rock and metal circuit, combining heavy riffs with humour to establish a substantial audience through the EP As Ugly As They Wanna Be and 1992 album America’s Least Wanted.
For Soul Asylum, the Australian dates represent a significant return. The band last played in Australia in 1995, around the period of its platinum-certified album Let Your Dim Light Shine. More than 30 years later, Dave Pirner remains at the centre of Soul Asylum, with the current line-up also featuring guitarist Ryan Smith, bassist Jeremy Tappero and drummer Michael Bland. The band has continued recording and touring rather than treating its 1990s success as its sole identity.
Soul Asylum’s breakthrough came with Grave Dancers Union, which became a multi-platinum success and established Runaway Train internationally. The song reached No. 5 in the United States and won the 1994 GRAMMY Award for Best Rock Song. Its music video, built around images and information about missing children, also became notable for its public service message.
The band’s catalogue subsequently expanded through Let Your Dim Light Shine, Candy From A Stranger, The Silver Lining, Delayed Reaction, Hurry Up And Wait and, most recently, Slowly But Shirley, released in 2024. The band’s early history dates to 1981, when Dave Pirner, Dan Murphy and Karl Mueller formed a group initially called Loud Fast Rules before adopting the Soul Asylum name in 1983.
The group’s history also includes major changes to its personnel. Dan Murphy left in 2012, while Karl Mueller died in 2005 after battling cancer. The band’s Minneapolis connection remains central to its history, with Soul Asylum recognised with a star on the mural outside First Avenue, the city’s influential live music venue.
Ugly Kid Joe brings a different chapter of 1990s rock history to the tour. Formed in California in 1989, the band broke through with As Ugly As They Wanna Be, which became a multi-platinum release. The subsequent America’s Least Wanted reached No. 27 in the United States and produced the band’s best-known recordings, including Everything About You and its cover of Harry Chapin’s Cat’s In The Cradle.
Ugly Kid Joe initially split in 1997 before reuniting in 2010. The reunion led to new recordings including Stairway To Hell in 2012, Uglier Than They Used Ta Be in 2015 and Rad Wings Of Destiny in 2022. The band also returned to Australia during its 25th anniversary period in 2017 and 2018, performing America’s Least Wanted in full.
The 2027 tour will feature Whitfield Crane, Klaus Eichstadt, Dave Fortman, Cordell Crockett and drummer Cam Greenwood. Dave Fortman has also indicated that the band’s next material is moving towards a heavier metal sound, although no release details for the next album have been announced in the supplied material.
Ugly Kid Joe, supplied by Destroy All Lines
Tour Dates
15 March 2027, Perth, Astor Theatre
17 March 2027, Adelaide, Hindley St Music Hall
18 March 2027, Melbourne, Forum
20 March 2027, Sydney, Roundhouse
21 March 2027, Brisbane, The Tivoli
Ticket Details
Early bird pre-sale tickets: Monday 14 September 2026 at 11:00am local time.
General tickets: Wednesday 16 September 2026 at 11Tickets from Destroy All Lines. local time.
Tickets from Destroy All Lines.
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