The Cat Empire To Play 1000th Show

The Red Hot Summer Tour will once again light up Australia in 2026, with Batemans Bay now confirmed to join the run of shows. The much-loved outdoor festival continues its legacy of celebrating Australian music under the open sky, and next year’s event promises one of the strongest all-local line-ups yet. At the forefront stands the country’s most revered songwriter and storyteller, Paul Kelly, headlining a bill that also features Missy Higgins, The Cruel Sea, The Cat Empire, Kasey Chambers, and Jess Hitchcock.

Paul Kelly continues to cement his legacy as Australia's greatest living songwriter with the release of his moving new single The Body Keeps The Score, lifted from his forthcoming album Seventy, due 7 November. At the same time, Kelly has been unveiled as the headline act for the Red Hot Summer Tour 2026, joining an all-star bill that includes Missy Higgins, The Cruel Sea, The Cat Empire, Kasey Chambers and Jess Hitchcock.

The Red Hot Summer Tour is set to turn up the heat in 2026 with a scorching all-Australian line-up headlined by one of the nation's most iconic and enduring singer-songwriters, Paul Kelly.

The Cat Empire have a stack of shows coming up for August and September with special guests Little Quirks.

The Cat Empire will perform a free concert of Federation Square in Melbourne on Saturday 22 March to launch the new album ‘Bird of Paradise’.

When The Cat Empire’s first album reached no 15 on the Australian chart and the second went to number one there was no-one more surprised than them. The Cat Empire were not set up as a “op” band. They were jazz musicians playing jazz music in late night bars in Melbourne and the audience loved it.

Bluesfest has added another 18 acts including Kasey Chambers, Xavier Rudd, The Cat Empire and Hilltop Hoods.