Foo Fighters: Australian Tour 2023

Overview

It's times like these that you can add a big summer gig to your diary, with Foo Fighters coming to Melbourne in December. The Dave Grohl-fronted rockers will embark on their first headline tour of Australia since 2018. It's also their first visit Down Under since drummer Taylor Hawkins passed away in March 2022.

Foo Fighters were last in Australia that same month and year, playing a huge Geelong show to help launch Victoria's post-COVID-19 lockdowns live music program. The band unsurprisingly took a break from touring after Hawkins' death, only returning to live gigs in 2023. In Melbourne, they're headed to ​AAMI Park on Monday, December 4 with Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and Hot Milk in support — and more tickets are going on sale at 3pm AEDT on Friday, October 13.

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Picking up the sticks: ex-The Vandals, Devo, Guns N' Roses and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese, taking on the likely-daunting task of being the touring drummer in a band led by Nirvana drummer Grohl. Freese's stint with the band was announced in May, ahead of their first tour dates.

When they hit our shores, the new-look Foo Fighters will weave in tunes from their new record But Here We Are, which released in June. Of course, all the hits from across their career will get a whirl, with their current setlist including everything from 'This Is a Call', 'Big Me' and 'Monkey Wrench' through to 'Learn to Fly', 'The Pretender' and 'Best of You'. And, yes, 'Everlong', because it wouldn't be a Foo Fighters show without it.

'I'll Stick Around', which is also on the list, isn't just a song title from the group's first album. Given that their new tour comes 28 years after that debut release in 1995, it perfectly sums up Foo Fighters' longevity. Over the years, they've made it Down Under a heap of times, released 11 studio albums including the just-dropped But Here We Are, and made 2022 horror movie Studio 666.

Mr Rossi vi Wikimedia Commons

Top image: Jo via Wikimedia Commons.