Who's Playing Good Things Festival In 2025?

The 2025 Good Things Festival line-up will be announced next Tuesday (12 August), and while potential punters wait for the announcement, speculation has grown about who will perform at this year’s event.

Of course, organisers haven’t kept supporters waiting without information about this year’s festival. We know the dates and venues, and in exciting news for Sydneysiders, the event has moved to a larger, more accessible location.

Moving from Centennial Park to the Sydney Showground, Good Things in NSW will take place on Saturday, 6 December. Melbourne and Brisbane venues remain the same – Good Things will stop at the Flemington Racecourse on Friday, 5 December, and the Brisbane Showgrounds on Sunday, 7 December.

As we approach the highly anticipated line-up announcement for this year’s Good Things Festival, The Music has come up with a list of bands we think are likely to perform, maybes, and completely ruled out. For example (and not mentioned in the piece), we’ve ruled out acts that performed at last year’s festival, such as Korn, Violent Femmes, Electric Callboy, and others.

Of course, we don’t know who’s playing on this year’s line-up. We’ve based our speculation not only on acts releasing new music in 2025, but tour schedules: bands touring in Japan in the days leading up to Good Things and bands with empty schedules for Good Things week are good calls for potential line-up appearances.

Plus, there are some Aussie acts we reckon won’t pass up the opportunity to perform to tens of thousands of rock, metal, emo, and punk fans. Check out our list below.

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The Music’s Good Things Festival 2025 Line-up Predictions

LIKELY:

TOOL

Tool stirred the rumours about their headlining Good Things Festival after they announced two dates in Japan the week after the Aussie festival. Not only do they have geographical proximity on their side, but they’re also missed by their fans – the progressive metal band last toured Australia in February 2020.

RISE AGAINST

Frequent visitors to Australia, Rise Against would fit in perfectly on the Good Things bill with their energetic brand of punk rock. With a new album—Ricochet—set for release next Friday (15 August), tour dates for 2025 ending in October, and singer Tim McIlrath recently telling The Music the band are “definitely” coming back to Australia, we think Rise Against are a likely call for this year’s festival.

EPICA

Dutch symphonic metal band Epica wouldn’t just bring a musical curveball to a Good Things bill; they’re also promoting a new album, Aspiral, which dropped in April. They might be cutting it close with Japanese tour dates on 2 and 3 December, but if they’re up for the trek to Australia, we’d be up for some headbanging.

BRIGHT EYES

Last in Australia for Harvest Rock festival in November 2023, it would be a quick turnaround for Bright Eyes to return, but we wouldn’t put it beyond the emo favourites. Like we said about Epica, tour dates in Japan on 3 and 4 December might make it tricky, but who knows?

SLEEP TOKEN

Sleep Token came to Australia for a headline tour in April 2023 and returned a year later in a support slot for Bring Me The Horizon. The anonymous alt-metal collective is now one of the biggest bands in the world—having headlined this year’s Download Festival and with tour dates wrapping up in October, they’d be a good call for a Good Things headliner.

YOURS TRULY

Sydney pop-punk favourites Yours Truly recently embarked on a national tour in support of their latest album, Toxic, but seeing as the group doesn’t have any tour dates booked for the rest of the year, we reckon they might want to end the year on a high with some Good Things performances.

REDHOOK

Fellow Sydney rockers RedHook have also enjoyed a busy year. In September, they’re opening for Don Broco across Australia before heading to Europe in October and early November to support British rock band As December Falls. Will they come home for a festival homecoming? Why not?

OCEAN GROVE

Melbourne nu-metal/rock band Ocean Grove recently toured Australia, celebrating ten years of their Black Label EP and their latest album, ODDWORLD, respectively. With tour dates ending in November (with fellow Aussies Thornhill), we wouldn’t be surprised seeing them on the line-up and wrapping up a killer year.

POLARIS

Aussie metal fans might have recently seen Polaris at Knotfest in March, plus upcoming appearances at Big Pineapple Festival in November and Froth & Fury in January, so if they’re still home in between those dates, Good Things could be a go.

TEENAGE JOANS

Teenage Joans are playing at Harvest Rock festival in late October and touring across the country with Slowly Slowly in September, but we won’t say no to some Good Things performances from the Adelaide punk rock duo if they keep the rest of their schedule clear.

TORIZON

Brisbane-based metalcore band Torizon are releasing their debut EP, Meliora, in September and following up the release with an East Coast tour. They could massively increase their profile with a festival slot, and with the rest of the year free after an October tour, they’d be a fun watch.

TROPHY EYES

Aussie emo favourites Trophy Eyes last played some shows at home in May (following a regional run in January and February). With no other shows announced for 2025, they’d be the perfect band to watch in the afternoon (or sunset).

BAD JUJU

Bad Juju are ramping up for a massive end to the year. Their new EP, Simulcara, is coming in October. With a fully charged nu-metal sound, no December dates, upcoming appearances at BIGSOUND and the inaugural Converge Festival, and performed at a Destroy All Lines showcase—the promoters of Good Things—Bad Juju would be a good call for the festival.

THORNHILL

Thornhill are joining Sleep Token in the US in September and October. Having released their new album BODIES earlier this year and taking it on a launch show in intimate venues, Thornhill are due for a return home on the big stage.

MAYBE:

LINKIN PARK

Linkin Park were in the “likely” category until posters encouraging fans to register for upcoming news appeared in Melbourne and Brisbane. The band haven’t played in Australia since Soundwave Festival in 2013 and has no tour dates booked between mid-November 2025 and late-May 2026, so that means they could fit in a Good Things co-headliner slot or their own tour.

However, since we’ve never seen a band promote with their own posters ahead of a Good Things announcement, we’re wary of making them a “likely” call.

GOOD CHARLOTTE

Like Linkin Park, we suspected Good Charlotte would be a good call for this year’s festival. With a new album, Motel Du Cap, arriving this week, appearances on Aussie TV, and a lengthy period between visits – the American rockers last toured Australia in 2018 – plus no tour dates after early October, they’d be the ideal pop-punk-leaning headliner.

But, the hopes could be over, as frontman Joel Madden said in a new interview that Good Charlotte are planning to come to Australia in early 2026, and play in arenas. Are they trying to silence the Good Things rumours, or is a tour on the way? We’ll have to wait and see…

AVRIL LAVIGNE

It’s been 20 long years since Avril Lavigne last toured in Australia, so we’re not sure if she has any plans to return, but her last tour date of 2025 is currently the When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas in late October. She’d undoubtedly be a perfect fit for Good Things.

DEFTONES

We know that Deftones appeared high up on the Good Things Festival line-up in 2022 (alongside headliners Bring Me The Horizon) and they’ve grown in fame even more since then, but their new album, private music, arrives this month and their schedule is clear between mid-November and late January. Plus, we suspect vocalist Chino Moreno still wants to make it up to Good Things audiences after some disappointing sound issues in 2022.

ARCHITECTS / HOUSE OF PROTECTION / PRESIDENT

British metal band Architects are already heading to Australia in December with special guests House Of Protection and PRESIDENT (neither of whom have played at Good Things), and while we’d assume they’re an unlikely call for this year’s festival, they’re absolutely the kind of bands that would fit in at the event. Touring from 11 December to 14 December, we’re calling for a tentative “maybe” – the touring party could arrive in Australia early?

HAYLEY WILLIAMS

Hayley Williams hasn’t yet announced solo dates for 2025, but with a new collection of 17 singles – affectionately dubbed Ego by fans – just released and picking up steam online, we wouldn’t be too surprised to see the Paramore singer take Billy Corgan’s solo slot from 2024 into 2025 with her solo music. Of course, we’d love to see Paramore again in Australia, but seeing Hayley would be a treat.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

Hear us out: Death Cab For Cutie are celebrating 20 years of their iconic album Plans this year, and we know that many emos would be keen to cry and sing along to I Will Follow You Into The Dark.

Having last toured Down Under in 2019 while supporting their album Thank You For Today, Australia has already missed out on the Asphalt Meadows tour and Transatlanticism anniversary run, so we don’t want to lose out on the Plans fun. Their current tour ends this month.

WEEZER

Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo recently joined pop superstar Olivia Rodrigo on stage at Lollapalooza, so it’s fair to say that the indie rock favourites are on the way to receiving a cultural reappraisal from Gen Z. Their current tour dates end in November, and we doubt Aussie fans would want to miss out on the Blue Album anniversary celebrations, even if they were here in late 2023.

TURNSTILE

Baltimore hardcore band Turnstile are enjoying an impressive year following the release of their latest album, Never Enough (which features Hayley Williams on SEEIN’ STARS). With tour dates ending in late November and their last tour selling like hotcakes in 2023, we wouldn’t be shocked if Turnstile wanted to end their incredible year in Australia.

KARNIVOOL

With a long-awaited album apparently due for release in October—per frontman Ian Kenny—Karnivool would be most welcome on the Good Things stages. The Australian progressive metal band have toured across the country this year, but with no dates listed after October, they might just cap off 2025 at the festival.

PARK WAVES ACTS

Parkway Drive are headlining their own festival, Park Waves, and bringing it to Australia for the first time in early 2026. Not touring during Good Things week, it’s always possible that Parkway Drive – and fellow Park Waves act The Amity Affliction – spend a bit of time at home this December. However, we don’t personally expect it.

NOT HAPPENING:

SPIRITBOX

Unfortunately for fans of the metalcore outfit, Spiritbox are touring internationally during Good Things week.

TRIVIUM

Same case for Trivium.

ICE NINE KILLS

And for Ice Nine Kills.

FALLING IN REVERSE

Falling In Reverse are appearing at Knotfest Mexico during Good Things week.

MARILYN MANSON

Same for Marilyn Manson.

BABYMETAL

While BABYMETAL don’t currently have tour dates locked in for December, they appeared at Knotfest Australia in March, and we doubt they’d be back so soon.

PIERCE THE VEIL / MOVEMENTS

Pierce The Veil are touring with special guests Movements and Jack Kays in April 2026, ruling them out of Good Things.

EVANESCENCE / SUICIDAL TENDENCIES

Evanescence and Suicidal Tendencies are the special guests on Metallica’s November tour of Australia and New Zealand, ruling them out of Good Things.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE / THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA / WHILE SHE SLEEPS

Bullet For My Valentine are bringing 20 years of The Poison to arenas across the country with The Devil Wears Prada and While She Sleeps in October, ruling them out of Good Things.

MAYDAY PARADE / JACK’S MANNEQUIN

Mayday Parade are celebrating their 20th anniversary with an Australian tour this September with special guests Jack’s Mannequin and The Home Team, ruling them out of Good Things.

ECCA VANDAL

Ecca Vandal would have been a good call a few weeks ago, but she’s just been added to Limp Bizkit’s South American tour dates, which take place during Good Things week.

SPEED / SCOWL / FLIPTURN

Aussie hardcore band SPEED and American rock groups Scowl and Flipturn will appear at Rolling Sets festival in late November and December. However, the second date clashes with Good Things Sydney, unfortunately ruling the bands out.

OPETH

Swedish progressive rockers Opeth are touring Australia in November, ruling them out of Good Things.

The Good Things Festival 2025 line-up will be announced on Tuesday, 12 August, at 10 am AEST. Tune in to The Music for updates as they arrive and register your interest here.