The Foo Fighters’ world tour has added a string of stadium dates across Australia and New Zealand.
Dave Grohl’s rock outfit will play eight concerts in the region early next year, starting Feb. 18 in Christchurch, before visiting Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide and wrapping up March 7 in Perth.
The show at Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart (the only indoor gig on the slate) will be the band’s first in the Tasmanian capital since 1998, while their opener in Christchurch is their first ever in NZ’s most populous South Island city. The band has a strong connection with both towns. Grohl wrote the instrumental “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” (on 2007’s Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace) for trapped Tasmanian miners Brant Webb and Todd Russell (2006) and the band has performed a charity concert in support of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake appeal.
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The promoter of the tour, Michael Gudinski’s Frontier Touring, has been teasing Aussie and Kiwi fans in recent weeks with hints of the Foos’ imminent arrival. The big reveal finally came on Thursday morning local time.
The February and March trek, according to Frontier, which has a long association producing the Foos’ shows in this part of the world, will be the band’s “biggest shows ever” Down Under. The Foos last played Australasia in 2011 (for Frontier); it was on that run when the group performed fundraisers in Brisbane and Auckland for local disaster relief efforts.
The general onsale starts Nov. 13 and the ticket pre-sale begins Nov. 11 via www.frontiertouring.com/foofighters. Rise Against will share the bill on all upcoming shows, and The Delta Riggs will support on all Australian dates (except Hobart).
The Foo Fighters’ global tour is in support of their eighth studio album, Sonic Highways, due Nov. 10 through Roswell Records/RCA Records in the U.S and Roswell/Sony Music in Australia.
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Produced by Butch Vig and the Foo Fighters, Sonic Highways’ eight songs were recorded separately in eight different U.S. cities. The vinyl edition of the album will come in an assortment for nine different covers, with eight variants for each the cities in which the Foos spent time.
Sonic Highways is also the name of the eight-episode HBO docuseries, which premiered on Oct. 17 and observes the band as they hit the road to try create their biggest and best album to-date.
Foo Fighters’ “Sonic Highways” 2015 tour of Australia & New Zealand:
Feb. 18 — Christchurch, AMI Stadium
Feb. 21 — Auckland, Mt. Smart Stadium
Feb. 24 — Brisbane, Suncorp Stadium
Feb. 26 — Sydney, ANZ Stadium
Feb. 28 — Melbourne | Etihad Stadium
March 2 — Hobart, Derwent Entertainment Centre
March 4 — Adelaide, Coopers Stadium
March 7 — Perth, nib Stadium