Perth has been spoilt with riches of world class musical acts touching down in WA every few weeks, but wait until you’ve seen the line-up for 2026.
If it feels as though there’s a world-class musical act touching down in Perth every second week, that’s because it’s true. Over the past two months, Western Australia has welcomed the likes of Mariah Carey, Pitbull, AC/DC, Metallica, Kendrick Lamar, Lewis Capaldi, and Doja Cat. In Grammy terms, that’s a total of 19 awards in just nine weeks.
Looking ahead, the 2026 line-up promises even more excitement. Lorde, Chappell Roan, One Republic, Kesha, and Ed Sheeran are the headline pop stars flying west to start the new year. Rock fans will be thrilled with American exports Good Charlotte and Machine Gun Kelly. Add nostalgic Brit dance party staples like Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Five, plus award-winning country singer Lainey Wilson, and Perth’s summer is only getting hotter.
Perth’s Rising Music Calendar
Those claiming “no one good” ever comes to Perth might need to hold their tongues for the foreseeable future. The numbers, as well as the city’s most prolific live music hosts, tell a different story. Between Perth HPC, formerly Challenge Stadium, and Arena Joondalup, there will be 11 entertainment events or festivals held from January to March. For comparison, the three-month span of October to December 2025 yielded only five events at those two venues.
Included among these events is the local debut of Froth and Fury, a heavy metal festival hitting Perth HPC in January. According to Harvey Lister, President and Chief Executive of Asia Pacific and Middle East for Legends Global, RAC Arena’s management company, the “list of international artists about to hit Perth over Summer and Autumn is phenomenal.”
RAC Arena: A Hub of Activity
RAC Arena has enjoyed its most prolific year for live music to date, according to General Manager Michael Scott. “We’re really pleased to report that our calendar at RAC Arena has returned to pre-COVID levels. In fact, we’ve never been so busy with over 90 ticketed events this year from both international artists like Drake, Teddy Swims, and Katy Perry to local legends like Paul Kelly, Kylie Minogue, and Human Nature,” he told PerthNow.
Last summer, the venue hosted 17 event days compared to 32 scheduled for this season. With the return of annual sports events like HoopsFest and the United Cup tennis, it’s music doing the heavy lifting. Scott noted that the demand for international acts among local fans is underscored by attendance rates. RAC Arena has “never had so many shows reaching capacity as we’ve had over this past 12-18 months.”
“From our understanding, Perth is a preferred location for touring shows over similar-sized cities such as Adelaide,” Scott added. “Our enthusiastic population and market size, world-class facilities, and the State government’s investment into events allow us to stand out from the others.”
Optus Stadium and New Venues
Summer at Optus Stadium is set to get even louder. The city’s highest capacity venue recently welcomed heavy metal and rock genre-definers Metallica and AC/DC. Following the 97,000 who witnessed the Aussie legends live, the stadium expects even more will follow for British superstar Ed Sheeran across his January 31 and February 1 shows. Frontier Touring anticipates Sheeran will draw a whopping 110,000 total fans when his Loop Tour comes to town in the peak of summer.
Optus Stadium Chief Executive Mike McKenna highlighted Sheeran’s impact out west in July, noting that the singer shares a special connection with Australia and Perth. Sheeran’s March 2018 performance marked his first-ever stadium show and made history as the first concert held at Optus Stadium.
It’s not just venue mainstays reaping the rewards of bigger attendances and increased top-tier tours. The flow-on effect is leading to investment in new live music spots. VenuesWest expects the conceptualized custom outdoor venue Perth Park amphitheatre to be an important addition to its portfolio, housing crowds of between five and twelve thousand.
Meanwhile, multinational entertainment company Live Nation is planning to launch Northbridge Music Hall by the summer of 2026-27, a 3000-capacity venue expected to host 150 performances in its first year. This development represents a significant expansion in Perth’s live music infrastructure, catering to the growing demand for diverse and high-quality entertainment options.
