Bleak Squad Add Mystery Melbourne Show To 2026 Australian Tour

The secret venue holds “super limited capacity,” in what Bleak Squad say will be an “adventurous, immersive night.”

Bleak Squad(Credit: Felix Oliver)

Bleak Squad, Australia’s hottest new supergroup, have added a Melbourne show to their forthcoming Australian tour, but there’s a catch: it’s at a secret venue, which won’t be revealed until the day of the show.

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Comprising Magic Dirt’s Adalita, Mick Harvey from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Birthday Party, and performing with PJ Harvey, Dirty Three’s Mick Turner, and Marty Brown (Art of Fighting, Clare Bowditch), Bleak Squad have amassed plenty of acclaim and buzz since they announced their formation last June.

The band’s debut album, Strange Love, was shortlisted for last year’s Australian Music Prize, they sold out their first-ever headline run, appeared at Golden Plains, and opened a handful of shows for Pulp. Plus, they’ve already dropped a new single in the recently released Black & White. Now, Bleak Squad are gearing up for a run of shows commencing in late July, continuing into August.

In addition to previously announced dates in Brisbane, Eumundi, Murwillumbah and Adelaide, the group have just added a Melbourne show, taking place at a secret venue on Friday, 7 August.

Bleak Squad issued a statement about the show on social media, explaining that, feeling inspired by the “twenty-somethings that do secret, pop-up shows,” they decided to get in on the action.

“OK, we’ve added a Melbs show to our run in August,” their statement began. “But it’s a little bit different.”

They continued, “You know how it’s always the twenty-somethings that do secret, pop-up shows in super cool spaces? And we’ve all gone to the same venues a thousand times to the point that they feel like an extension of our lounge rooms?

“Well, we might be just a couple of years past our twenties, but we thought we’d get in on the secret venue action too. So, on Fri Aug 7th we’ll be presenting just that.”

The band added that the show will take place in Melbourne’s inner north and that the location would be disclosed on the day of the gig. Doors will open at 7:30 pm, with “everything wrapped up by 10:30 pm.” The secret venue holds “super limited capacity,” in what Bleak Squad say will be an “adventurous, immersive night.”

Tickets are only available to those who have subscribed to the band’s mailing list – sign up here to be in the know. Tickets will be available this Wednesday, 10 June, at 10 am AEST.

In addition to adding a secret show to their itinerary, Bleak Squad have revealed that work on their highly anticipated second album has begun, ahead of a run of UK and European shows in November.

Tickets to all of the band’s other Australian shows are now available via Feel Presents.