Massive Attack announce first Australian tour in 16 years, with three arena dates in 2026

Massive Attack Australia tour 2026: sixteen years in the making

Massive Attack are heading back to Australia for their first headline shows since 2010. According to Billboard, the Bristol collective has confirmed three arena dates for August 2026, covering Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. It is a long-overdue return for a band whose influence on electronic music is almost impossible to overstate.

The Massive Attack shows, presented by Frontier Touring, are as follows:

• Aug. 6 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
• Aug. 9 Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
• Aug. 11 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Frontier Members presale opens Thursday, June 4 at 2 p.m. local time. General on-sale follows Friday, June 5 at 3 p.m. local time via frontiertouring.com/massiveattack.

A band that still has things to say

The announcement comes alongside a new collaboration with Tom Waits titled "Boots on the Ground," the first new Massive Attack material in some time. It is a pointed reminder that Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall are not simply running a legacy tour.

The group's back catalogue speaks for itself. Their 1991 debut Blue Lines, widely credited with inventing trip-hop, peaked at No. 13 on the UK Albums Chart and later made Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Their third album Mezzanine (1998) went to No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, produced the enduring "Teardrop" and "Angel," and has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. It also remains their strongest US chart performance, peaking at No. 60 on the Billboard 200. A fourth album, 100th Window (2003), gave them a second UK number one. Their most recent studio record, Heligoland, debuted at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart in 2010, the same year they last played Australia.

What to expect live

Massive Attack's live productions are in a category of their own. Large-scale visual and political messaging, bespoke audio-visual systems and collaborations with filmmakers and artists (including Adam Curtis) have made their shows among the most discussed concert experiences in contemporary music. Australian audiences who missed the 2010 run will want to pay attention this time. Tickets for concerts in Australia and beyond tend to move fast when the band in question has not visited in sixteen years.