Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has delivered on his promise of returning Down Under.
Last month, Foo Fighters played a one-off concert in Launceston, the US rock band’s first Tasmanian date since 2015, where Grohl teased: “We’ll be back sooner than you think.”
True to his word, Foo Fighters will return to Australia in November for a run of stadium shows in capital cities and regional centres.
The Take Cover Tour kicks off in Brisbane (November 5), then visits Townsville (November 7), Sydney (November 10), Newcastle (November 12), Melbourne (November 14), Adelaide (November 17), and after two New Zealand dates, Perth (January 25).
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Grohl and his bandmates — guitarists Pat Smear and Chris Shiflett, bassist Nate Mendel, keyboardist Rami Jaffee and newly appointed drummer Ilan Rubin — are renowned for playing marathon two-hour-plus shows packed with all their hits.
All-Australian support
They also have a track record of platforming local talent, and these upcoming shows are no exception.
Brisbane rockers Full Flower Moon Band, who supported Foo Fighters in Tasmania, have been tapped to open the dates in Brisbane (alongside Byron Bay quartet Mini Skirt) and Townsville (with Sydney punks Down Girl).
“It was insane on the ground,” Kate “Babyshakes” Dillon told Double J’s Karen Leng. “It felt like a big festival.”
The Belair Lip Bombs, fresh from their triple j Like A Version debut, are lined up as special guests in Sydney (alongside Tasmanian trio Teens).
All-female alt-rock group The Buoys will play Newcastle alongside fellow Sydney-bred pub-punks C.O.F.F.I.N.
Rounding out the sizeable list of special guests are local acts Frenzee, Kurralta Park, Spooky Eyes, Southern River Band and Last Quokka.
January’s Launceston show included an emotional onstage reunion between Foo Fighters and Brant Webb, the survivor of the Beaconsfield mining disaster and inspiration for the band’s 2007 track Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners.
Loading…Do Foo Fighters tour Australia a lot?
Yes, and more frequently in recent years.
The band have had a long affair with Australia, having visited 15 times since their debut trip, playing Summersault Festival way back in 1995.
Before Launceston, the band toured the mainland in 2023, and 2018 before that.
In 2022, they played a fly-in fly-out concert in Geelong, one of the last shows to feature drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died age 50 just weeks after the performance.
Hawkins’s stool was filled by prolific drummer Josh Freese in 2023, but his position in the band did not last.
In September 2025, he was replaced by Ilan Rubin from Nine Inch Nails (essentially marking a drummer’s swap, with Fresse returning to Nine Inch Nails for the first time in 17 years).
Rubin is also set to feature on the next Foo Fighters album.
New music on the horizon
Grohl informed fans onstage in Launceston that the band had completed work on their 12th studio album.
“We might have a whole new record of f***ing songs that we just finished the other day,” he told the crowd.
The band have been teasing snippets on social media, meaning its very likely the November set lists will feature new material.
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The record will follow on from But Here We Are, one of 2023’s best albums, which saw the band using full-volume, longer-form anthems to exorcise their grief over the deaths of Taylor Hawkins and Grohl’s mother, Viriginia Grohl, who died in August 2022.
Foo Fighters play the following shows at the end of 2026. General public tickets will be on sale from Wednesday, February 25.
Thursday November 5 — Lang Park, Brisbane
Saturday November 7 — North Queensland Stadium, Townsville
Tuesday November 10 –Stadium Australia, Sydney
Thursday November 12 — Newcastle International Sports Centre
Saturday November 14 — Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Tuesday November 17 — Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
Monday January 25 — Perth Rectangular Stadium