Veteran indie-rock storytellers The Mountain Goats will make their long-awaited return to Australia and New Zealand in April 2026, with performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Wellington. This eagerly-anticipated tour represents the band’s first visit to Australia in 9 years (2017) and their first trip to New Zealand in 16 years (2010).
Fronted by prolific songwriter and novelist John Darnielle, The Mountain Goats are revered the world over for their sprawling catalogue of twenty-three studio albums released between 1994 and 2023. This tour announcement coincides with the band today unveiling album number twenty-four, ‘Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan’ – to be released 7th November 2025 on Cadmean Dawn Records (the band’s own label). Listen to the lead single “Armies Of The Lord” now.
Produced by the Mountain Goats’ multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan is a full-on musical that stands as the most conceptually detailed and musically elaborate project in the band’s ever-expanding catalogue. It features appearances from The Replacements’ Tommy Stinson, harpist Mikaela Davis, musical theatre royalty Lin-Manuel Miranda (Tony Award-winning ‘Hamilton’, Disney’s ‘Moana’ & ‘Encanto’), and the band’s new bassist Cameron Ralston.
Drawing on the cryptic phrasing of its title, ‘Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan’ tells the story of a small crew shipwrecked on a desert island, where three surviving members—an unnamed narrator, Captain Peter Balkan, and Adam—are plagued by diminishing resources and apocalyptic visions. These are tales of survival and desolation, brutality and tenderness, hard-earned wisdom and heaps of compassion, novelistic detail and shouted, wordless choruses that transcend language. In other words, these are Mountain Goats songs, further deepening a singular body of work now spanning over three decades.
The Mountain Goats recently announced a 20th Anniversary reissue of their 2005 fan-favorite album, The Sunset Tree, remastered at Abbey Road Studios. Additionally, John Darnielle is releasing ‘This Year’ – 365 Songs Annotated: A Book of Days in December, which pairs the definitive texts of 365 of his songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music, which reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them.
Known for their sharp lyricism, emotional intensity, and fiercely devoted fanbase, The Mountain Goats’ live shows are a communal experience — by turns raucous, intimate, and cathartic. With a deep catalogue spanning three decades, no two nights are ever quite the same.
Don’t miss one of indie rock’s most enduring and beloved bands as they make their long-overdue return to our shores!
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS – AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND 2026
Presented by Handsome Tours.
April 10 – Double Whammy, Auckland NZ | TICKETS
April 11 – Meow, Wellington NZ | TICKETS
April 13 – Metro Theatre, Sydney AU | TICKETS
April 14 – Princess Theatre, Brisbane AU | TICKETS
April 16 – The Gov, Adelaide AU | TICKETS
April 17 – Forum, Melbourne AU | TICKETS
April 19 – Freo.Social, Perth AU | TICKETS
GENERAL ON SALE TICKETS – 10AM (LOCAL), FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12
For more info, head to www.handsometours.com
