Joe Jackson Is Steppin' Out to Sydney in 2027

Joe Jackson last toured Australia in 2008, which is long enough ago that the tickets have basically been in a virtual waiting room this whole time. The British singer-songwriter, pianist and saxophonist brings his Hope And Fury tour to Sydney's State Theatre on Thursday 28 January 2027, and no, before you ask, this is the new-wave-and-jazz-pop Joe Jackson of 'Steppin' Out' fame, not the other two famous ones the internet keeps mixing him up with.

When, where and how to get in

The facts, up top, so nobody has to scroll for them:

• Who: Joe Jackson and his band, on the Hope And Fury tour.
• Where: State Theatre, Sydney.
• When: Thursday 28 January 2027.
• On-sale: 10am local time, 13 July, through Destroy All Lines.

This is the opening night of the run, so if you have been waiting eighteen years, you get to go first. Fair reward for patience.

The back catalogue doing the heavy lifting

Jackson was part of the 1980s Second British Invasion, and the hits hold up better than most of the decade's haircuts. 'Steppin' Out' and 'Is She Really Going Out With Him?' are the ones everyone knows, but the set has deep pockets: 'Real Men', 'It's Different For Girls', 'You Can't Get What You Want', 'Be My Number Two' and 'Breaking Us In Two'. He is not just a pop guy either. In 2001 he won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album for his 1999 classical record 'Symphony No. 1', which is the kind of range that makes the rest of us feel like we peaked at recorder in Year 4.

The tour is behind 'Hope And Fury', released in April, his 22nd studio album, which he has described as "bicoastal Latin-jazz-funk-rock". That is a lot of hyphens, and I trust every one of them. The album's opening track has him addressing a cruel world and making clear he is not going anywhere, so the man is clearly not short on things to say, or on gigs to say them at.

By all accounts the Hope And Fury shows are landing. Here is the band mid-tour, before it reaches us.

The full Australian tour

Sydney kicks it off, but there are five dates around the country. All of them route to the same on-sale.

Actually landing a ticket

The State Theatre is a proper old room, not a stadium, so the seats are finite and the good ones go early. Be ready a few minutes before 10am on 13 July, logged in, one browser tab, card handy. Honest tip: do not panic-refresh the second it ticks over. A well-run on-sale puts everyone in a fair queue, so hammering the page just means you are first in line to time out. If you want to know why the refresh war is a mug's game, we wrote the whole thing up.

If Joe Jackson is not quite your speed, or you miss out, there is always something else on. Have a dig through what else is happening around town.

Eighteen years between drinks is a long time, but he did tell us he is not going away. So really, is he still going out with them? Looks like it. See you at the State Theatre.