Underworld will play exclusive headline shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne in March 2027, with two sets planned for each night. The Australian dates sit alongside appearances at Electric Avenue in New Zealand, WOMADelaide and Golden Plains, extending the electronic duo’s latest run of live activity.
Underworld will return to Australia in March 2027 for three exclusive headline shows featuring two sets each night, with Karl Hyde and Rick Smith also scheduled to perform at three major festivals across Australia and New Zealand.
The announcement extends a particularly active period for the British electronic act. Underworld have continued to connect their established catalogue with contemporary electronic music, combining new performance concepts and collaborations with renewed attention to their earlier albums.
The two-set format is the defining feature of the three headline concerts. Rather than a conventional single performance, each show will give Underworld two separate sets in one evening. The promoters have not confirmed whether the sets will follow different musical themes or feature distinct selections from the duo’s catalogue.
For a project whose live identity has developed alongside its studio recordings, the format provides scope to explore different parts of its musical history. Underworld’s catalogue spans early electronic experiments, the expansive techno and house productions of the 1990s, and subsequent work that has continued to evolve beyond the period that made the duo internationally recognised.
Hyde and Smith’s most influential work includes dubnobasswithmyheadman, Second Toughest in the Infants and Beaucoup Fish. The albums helped establish Underworld as one of the defining British acts in the development of album-length electronic music during the 1990s.
Their 1996 track Born Slippy (Nuxx) became an international breakthrough after its association with Danny Boyle’s film Trainspotting. Originally released as the B-side to Born Slippy, the reworked Nuxx version became the better-known recording and remains central to the group’s live repertoire.
Underworld’s connection with Boyle continued through later projects, including music for the director’s London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony production. Their work has consistently moved between club culture, recorded music and large-scale performance.
Underworld’s recent activity has also included the presentation of new material under the title Crazy, Crazy. The project has been associated with special live performances in New York, reflecting the duo’s continuing interest in developing material and performance formats beyond a standard retrospective set.
Their recent Boiler Room appearance has attracted substantial online attention. Promotional material associated with the performance reported more than one million views within its first five days, an indication of the continued reach of the group’s music across streaming and video platforms.
A reissue campaign covering Underworld’s first seven studio albums has also renewed attention on the recordings that established their reputation. The campaign’s promotional claims reported all seven albums entering the charts simultaneously, an unusual result for a catalogue reissue programme.
The duo have also worked with contemporary electronic artists including Brutalismus 3000, KETTAMA and KI/KI. Those connections place Underworld in conversation with newer generations of dance music producers without displacing the musical foundations established through their own recordings.
The group’s history stretches back to the 1980s, with Hyde and Smith continuing the Underworld project through successive changes in electronic music. Their career has encompassed alternative rock beginnings, techno, progressive house, film work and large-scale festival performances.
The March 2027 schedule brings those different strands together. Electric Avenue provides the New Zealand festival date, while WOMADelaide and Golden Plains give Australian audiences opportunities to see the duo in festival settings. The three headline concerts offer the more expansive format, with two sets planned for each venue.
Underworld 2027 Australia And New Zealand Tour Dates
New Zealand
Saturday 27 February, Christchurch, Electric Avenue Festival
Australia
Tuesday 2 March, Brisbane, Fortitude Music Hall
Wednesday 3 March, Sydney, Hordern Pavilion
Friday 5 March, Adelaide, WOMADelaide
Saturday 6 March, Melbourne, PICA Melbourne
Sunday 7 March, Meredith, Golden Plains Festival
Tickets and further information: Live Nation Australia and Secret Sounds
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