Australian CrawlAfter 40 years between drinks, Australian Crawl are reuniting to headline this year’s Red Hot Summer Tour. The annual travelling music festival, which spotlights Australian rock music, is making history with this year’s line-up.
Original members James Reyne, Simon Binks and David Reyne will share the stage for the first time in four decades. For their surprise return, they’ll be accompanied by John Watson (Australian Crawl 83-86), Brett Kingman, Josh Owen, Andrew McIvor, Sean Johnson, Melinda Jackson and Nicole Kurta.
Men At Work will co-headline this year’s festival, and the excitement doesn’t end there. The line-up is rounded out by additional Australian music icons in Birds Of Tokyo, 2026 ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Vika & Linda, Eskimo Joe, Boom Crash Opera, and Killing Heidi’s Ella Hooper.
The Red Hot Summer Tour begins at Toowoomba’s Queens Park on Saturday, 17 October. It continues at the Sandstone Point Hotel on Sunday, 18 October, Berry Showground on Saturday, 24 October, Manly’s Keirle Park on Sunday, 25 October, and the Hunter Valley’s Roche Estate on Saturday, 31 October.
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From there, the shows keep rolling at Coolangatta Beach on Sunday, 1 November, Ballarat’s Victoria Park on Saturday, 7 November, the Mornington Racecourse on Sunday, 8 November, Swan Valley’s Sandalford Wines on Saturday, 14 November, and conclude at Glenelg Beach on Sunday, 15 November.
Telstra Plus members can access pre-sale tickets from Monday, 22 June, at 9 am local time – plus $20 off for the first Early Bird GA tickets purchased. Head to the Telstra Plus website for more information.
The Red Hot Summer Tour pre-sale kicks off on Tuesday, 23 June, at 10 am local time, followed by the general sale on Thursday, 25 June, at 9 am local time. You can find more ticketing information on the Red Hot Summer Tour website.
Discussing their highly anticipated, shock comeback, James Reyne said, “We ran our own shows on the Pen, and a following grew. One can only shake one’s head at the sometimes wonderful inventions of folly in all its guises and forms, for the trip was a blast; such fun and high spirits were had that upon return, we decided we should perhaps give this thing a year before we returned to our studies, just to see what happens. What a ride.”
Simon Binks added, “I’m looking forward to this upcoming celebration of Australian Crawl. Who would have thought that this far down the track, three original members would be sharing the same stage once again?”
David Reyne concluded, “Back in 1979, a bunch of us from the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula twanged some guitars, banged some drums, blended together some tunes and played a gig or two for the local board riders’ club. They swung from the rafters, stomped the floorboards and drank an Army’s worth of beer.
“Buoyed by the reaction, we loaded the gear into the back of a couple of old Holdens and plied our noise all the way up the East Coast. It was a riot. Each night a howling, joyous, sunburnt shindig. Australian Crawl was born. What a delight it will be to do it all again with those of us from the original gang who haven’t yet propped permanently at Heaven’s Bar.”
RED HOT SUMMER TOUR
2026 TOUR WITH AUSTRALIAN CRAWL, MEN AT WORK, BIRDS OF TOKYO, VIKA & LINDA, ESKIMO JOE, BOOM CRASH OPERA & ELLA HOOPER
Saturday 17 October - Queens Park, Toowoomba, QLD
Sunday 18 October - Sandstone Point Hotel, Sandstone Point, QLD
Saturday 24 October - Berry Showground, Berry, NSW
Sunday 25 October - Keirle Park, Manly, NSW
Saturday 31 October - Roche Estate, Hunter Valley, NSW
Sunday 1 November - Coolangatta Beach, Coolangatta, QLD
Saturday 7 November - Victoria Park, Ballarat, VIC
Sunday 8 November - Mornington Racecourse, Mornington, VIC
Saturday 14 November - Sandalford Wines, Swan Valley, WA
Sunday 15 November - Glenelg Beach, Glenelg, SA
