The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper tour kicks off in July, spanning eleven dates across the country with a full band and special guest Michael Beach along for the ride on select shows.
Fifty years is a long time to keep swimming upstream, but that’s exactly what Ed Kuepper has done since The Saints released (I’m) Stranded in August 1976. To mark the milestone, Kuepper is taking a full band on the road for The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper, a tour that draws from across one of Australian music’s most storied catalogues.
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The band is no afterthought. Joining Kuepper are drummer Mark Dawson, bassist Peter Oxley, keyboard player Alister Spence and brass arranger Eamon Dilworth – a lineup that, by all accounts, does the music full justice.
From the genre-defying Laughing Clowns to an ARIA award-winning solo career, side projects including The Aints and The Aints!, film soundtracks and collaborations with the likes of Jim White and Asteroid Ekosystem, Kuepper has spent five decades refusing to repeat himself. The tour promises to pull from all of it.
Californian-born, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Michael Beach joins as support across select shows, performing material from his 2025 album Big Black Plume. In Sydney, Beach steps it up to quartet mode, joined by Lloyd Swanton of The Necks, Mick Turner of Dirty Three and drummer Joe Talia.
Beach isn’t understating it, and says “To be able to conclude the tour run in Sydney with Joe Talia, Lloyd Swanton and Mick Turner makes me pinch myself. As a long time Ed Kuepper fan, it’s a total honour to be opening these shows.”
The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper — Australia 2026
30 July: Avoca Theatre, Avoca
31 July: The Street, Canberra
1 August: Wombarra Bowlo, Wombarra
6 August: The Gov, Adelaide
8 August: National Theatre, Melbourne
9 August: Barwon Heads Hotel, Barwon Heads
15 August: Freo Social, Fremantle
20 August: The Princess, Brisbane
21 August: The Jetty Theatre, Coffs Harbour
22 August: Regent Theatre, Murwillumbah
27 August: Enmore Theatre, Sydney
