Icehouse have shared details of an outdoor concert series for this November and December, commemorating the 40th anniversary of their signature song ‘Great Southern Land’.
The tour, announced today (July 19), will see the band play three shows across the east coast in open-air, capital city venues: Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Brisbane’s Riverstage and Sydney’s Opera House Forecourt. It follows on from the partial cancellation of several dates on their tour earlier this year, which was also to commemorate ‘Great Southern Land’ and its anniversary.
English band the Psychedelic Furs will serve as main support in both Melbourne and Brisbane. It will mark the first time the band has toured Australia in over 15 years, with their last tour taking place in 2006. The band will be promoting their first album in almost 30 years, 2020’s ‘Made Of Rain’.
Mark Seymour, best known as the frontman of Hunters & Collectors, will join the line-ups in Melbourne and Sydney. He will be accompanied by his backing band, The Undertow, for both performances. The other support acts are exclusive to their respective bills: Motor Ace and Emma Donovan & The Putbacks for Melbourne, Alice Skye for Brisbane and both William Barton and Karen Lee Andrews for Sydney.
Icehouse released ‘Great Southern Land’ in August 1982, serving as the lead single from their second studio album ‘Primitive Man’. The song went on to peak at Number Five on the ARIA Charts, and also charted in the UK and New Zealand. In 2014, the song was inducted into the Australian National Film & Sound Archive.
In a press statement, frontman and founding member Iva Davies recalled being inspired to write the song on a plane trip to Western Australia. “I was… falling asleep over inland desert, and waking several hours later still over desert,” he said. “For the first time, the continent’s vastness really hit home.”
Tickets for the ‘Great Southern Land’ shows will go on sale this Thursday (July 21), from 10am local time. Ahead of the general sale, a Live Nation pre-sale will take place on Wednesday morning – also at 10am local time. All links will be available from the Live Nation Australia website.
Icehouse’s ‘Great Southern Land – 40 Years Live’ tour dates are:
NOVEMBER
Saturday 19 – Melbourne, Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Saturday 26 – Brisbane, Riverstage
DECEMBER
Monday 12 – Sydney, Opera House Forecourt