Melbourne indie-rock icons Art of Fighting announce ‘Wires’ 21st anniversary tour

Performing headline shows across the East Coast in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, and visiting regional areas in QLD, NSW and VIC, the nine-date tour will see the Melbourne band performing every song from the iconic ‘Wires’ album. Local stops will include Theatre Royal in Castlemaine; Melbourne Recital Centre; and Archies Creek Tavern in South Gippsland.

To coincide with the anniversary and tour ‘Wires’ has been released on vinyl for the first time as a deluxe double album with gatefold artwork through Hobbledehoy Records.

Keep up with the latest music news, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

The record’s eleven tracks are beautifully crafted melodic gems, from the opening track ‘Skeletons’, ‘Reasons Are All I Have Left’, ‘Just Say I’m Right’, and ‘Give Me Tonight’, the album is a stand-out from start to finish.  This record remains one that is etched in the minds and hearts of their fans and peers, so much so, that 20 years later Rolling Stone Australia listed ‘Wires’ as the 159th best Australian album of all time.

“21 years ago, our debut album ‘Wires’ was released. After an inordinate amount of demoing at Martys share house in Rae St, it only took five days to record it with the legendary Tim Whitten at Sydney’s Megaphon studios. Needless to say we were so blown away from the response, and so grateful of all the opportunities it gave us,” the band shared on socials earlier this year.

“From working with the mighty Trifekta label and touring in Europe, UK, Japan, Taiwan and countless times across Australia those songs are now firmly implanted into our muscle memory.”

Also one of the band’s most successful albums, ‘Wires’ went on to win an ARIA award for Best Alternative Release in 2001. Not expecting to win, the band headed off on an overseas tour and were famously told of their prize while packing up after a gig in Germany, on their first European tour.

The success of the album not only locally but also internationally, with releases in the USA, Japan, Germany, and Taiwan, led to extensive touring both overseas and across Australia.