From Massive Spiders To Crazy Traffic: Wheatus' Brendan B. Brown Share His Favourite Aus Tour Memories

Tyler Jenke

"When we first came to 'Straya, absolutely nothing had happened with our record, but that December 2000 we were No. 1 Down Under," Brown remembers.

Wheatus(Credit: Gabrielle White)

Wheatus

It feels like it was almost yesterday, but 25 years ago this week, Australia’s favourite song was none other than Wheatus’ enduring classic, Teenage Dirtbag.

If you weren’t there at the time, it might sound a little strange at the time as to how this anthemic piece of pop rock spoke to society’s outcasts and gave them a four-minute piece of music to rally around.

The group’s debut single, the song first topped the Aussie charts in November 2000, but returned to the top for three more weeks around Christmas of that year. The response to the track was immense, and by the end of the year, it was the country’s second highest-selling single.

It was prime timing too, given that just days earlier, Wheatus had touched down in Australia for their first tour of the country. The response to this inaugural tour was impressive, and a return visit occurred in 2012, before frontman Brendan B. Brown again touched down in 2024 for a run of dates and followed it with another tour early this year.

Now, Wheatus are once again returning to local shores next month, with a 25th anniversary tour set to launch on January 15th. Tickets to those shows are on sale now.

In celebration of the event, Brown spoke to The Music to share some of the most surprising things he’s seen while driving around Australia.

The Most Surprising Things Wheatus’ Brendan B. Brown Has Seen While Driving Around Australia

1. A poster of myself. When we first came to 'Straya, absolutely nothing had happened with our record, but that December 2000 we were No. 1 Down Under. Our billboards and posters were everywhere. It was a shock.

2. The first time we saw a Wombat driving from Sydney to Wollongong I couldn't quite make out what I was looking at. Seemed like a Star Wars creature.

3. "The Full Biscuit". Unbeknownst to us, the Australian record label had changed the name of our first album from Wheatus to The Full Biscuit. Yeah, I didn't get it either.

4. Hunstmans just chillin’ on the ceiling during meals. I'm totally OK with spiders but that's a big fucker, and it was just at dinner with us. Low key. Yeah, wow.

5. The heat in Perth. I mean, it was pretty much like having a hair drier in your face at full blast.

6. The Sydney traffic. I thought I knew the deal, growing up in New York, etc. You guys brought it to a whole new level.

7. A humongous bird-eating spider who's web stretched across the car park. Yeah, I'd rather not tell that story, but I was asked to help remove it. Bad move. It was a creature from hell.

8. The beauty of Byron Bay. What a place.

9. The odd weather of Melbourne. Four seasons in one day and all that.

10. The Adelaide sunset. I have tonnes of pics. Couldn't believe it. So pretty. I don't think any other city is positioned between such extreme climates (Western desert and the lush south-east coastal rainforest) to give that crystal hilltop spectacular. It's amazing.

Tickets to Wheatus’ upcoming Australian and New Zealand tour dates are on sale now.