Lucinda Williams Joins Paul Kelly’s National Arena Tour

Country folk rocker Lucinda Williams replaces Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, who have pulled out of the tour.

Image Danny Clinch

Adelaide legend Paul Kelly is set to embark on his first ever run of arena shows, his largest headline tour of all time.

The 17-time ARIA Award-winning artist was to be joined by Grammy Award-winning American act Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, but Isbell and his band have had to pull out of the tour. No concrete reason has been given beyond “unforeseen circumstances”, which can pretty much mean anything.

No doubt a disappointing outcome for many, it’s not all bad news, with Isobel and co replaced by the equally impressive Lucinda Williams and her talented band. The three-time Grammy winner is excited to return to Australian stages, performing tracks from her celebrated 15-album catalogue

Williams, for the uninitiated, is a folk country icon, having been making music for more than 40 years. Named Songwriter of the Year by Time Magazine in 2001, Williams’ distinguished career includes 17 Grammy nominations (three wins), five top-five albums on the Billboard US Rock Chart, including Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, which peaked at #2, and a best selling memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You.

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Kelly’s Australian tour comes in support of his upcoming new album Fever Longing Still, which arrives Friday, November 1 via EMI Music Australia (pre-order/pre-save here).

Along with the recently announced Williams, Australia’s own Fanny Lumsden will also be part of the tour.

The ‘To Her Door’ singer’s six-date tour begins at Perth’s RAC Arena on Tuesday, August 26. Kelly then makes his way to Brisbane’s Entertainment Centre on Friday, August 29 and follows this with concerts at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday, August 30, Hobart’s MyState Bank Arena on Tuesday, September 2, and Adelaide’s Entertainment Centre on Thursday, September 4. The final show occurs at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Saturday, September 6. Kelly then wraps up the tour with three shows in New Zealand.

Tickets for all shows are on sale now via Frontier Touring.

“I never know what the themes are until I am in the middle of doing a record,” Kelly explains about the new album. “I don’t set out with an album in mind. Over the past 20 years I just get the band together and put down a batch of songs. I put them in what I call my odd-socks drawer on the computer and as they accumulate I see which ones work together.

“There has been a long gap since the last album of new songs and I realise now that this record is a bit like Gossip, an album with a long gestation where the songs are all quite different to each other in style.”

Catch Paul Kelly at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday, September 4. Tickets are on sale now via the Frontier Touring website.

PAUL KELLY AUSTRALIA TOUR Dates 2025

With special guests Lucinda Williams and Fanny Lumsden 

Tuesday, August 26 - RAC Arena, Perth

Friday, August 29 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Saturday, August 30 - Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Tuesday, September 2 - MyState Bank Arena, Hobart

Thursday, September 4 - Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide

Saturday, September 6 - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

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