Queens Of The Stone Age Open Their Aussie Tour in Adelaide

Good news for anyone who owns more black t-shirts than they'll admit to: Queens Of The Stone Age are back in Australia this December, and they're kicking the whole tour off in Adelaide. The desert-rock originators play The Drive on Tuesday 8 December 2026, their first Aussie shows since early 2024, and I have already started stretching so I can pretend to headbang without booking a physio the next morning.

The facts, before the group chat asks

• What: Queens Of The Stone Age, their 2026 Australian tour, with support from Primus and Australia's own noise misfits Tropical F**k Storm.
• When: Tuesday 8 December 2026, the opening night of the tour.
• Where: The Drive, Adelaide.
• On sale: General sale 11am ACST on Monday 20 July, with a Mastercard presale from 11am on Thursday 16 July and a Live Nation presale from 11am on Friday 17 July, all through Live Nation.

Why this one's worth it

Queens Of The Stone Age more or less wrote the book on desert rock and then spent this century as one of the biggest instigators of modern hard rock. These are their first Australian dates since early 2024, so it's been a minute, and the support bill is not messing around either: prog-rock legends Primus and Australia's own gleeful noise misfits Tropical F**k Storm. Get there early. This is not the undercard you skip for a beer.

The new single 'Easy Street' is their first fresh music since 2023's 'In Times New Roman', and its video is exactly as unhinged as you'd hope. Directed by Tony Wolski and Christopher Gruse from a story by Josh Homme, it opens with a bruised and battered Homme sprinting from a motley crew of pursuers: a Juggalo, a mall santa, and a leather enthusiast. As you do.

No rules, apparently

Keys-and-guitar man Dean Fertita reckons the band's arrived somewhere loose and honest. "Things have evolved over the past few years," he told scenestr. "We feel like there's no rules anymore. Not that we were ever total rule followers or anything, but... we feel strengthened by the connection we've had with people over the past few years."

"You're going to get the most honest us that we've felt in a long time, so I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a fun tour." Which, from a band this heavy, I'm choosing to read as a promise. (If their 2024 Melbourne show is anything to go by, he's not overselling it.)

The full 2026 tour dates

Adelaide opens the run, then they work their way around the country through December. Here's the lot.

How to actually get tickets

The on-sale is 11am ACST on Monday 20 July, and a QOTSA tour opener with that support bill is going to move. So a bit of honest, watched-a-lot-of-on-sales advice.

Have one person on it, ready a few minutes early, rather than the whole group refreshing on separate phones and quietly holding five different queue spots. A good on-sale drops everyone into a fair, first-in line instead of rewarding whoever mashes the button hardest, and I wrote up how fair ticket queues work if you want to know what's happening behind the loading spinner. Refreshing does not move you up. It just wears out your thumb before the riffs start.

A December show also means the fun clash with the silly season, so lock your night in early before the work Christmas party lands on the same date. And while you wait, have a browse of what else is on around town.

That's your night sorted. Two support acts worth arriving for, a back catalogue built for a big loud room, and one bloke down the side headbanging at roughly half the recommended speed to protect his neck. If that's me, and it will be, just give me space and a clear path to the water station. Rock and roll, responsibly.