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Hands Like Houses Invite Local Bands To Open For Them On 2026 Australian Tour

upnext2blowFebruary 17, 20262 Mins read1

Hands Like Houses Invite Local Bands To Open For Them On 2026 Australian Tour

“There are a lot of stacked international tours rolling through right now, but real opportunities for local Aussie bands to play bigger rooms are still super limited.”

Hands Like Houses(Credit: Matt Higgs)

Hands Like Houses

Canberra rockers Hands Like Houses are touring across the country in April, and they’re looking for local bands to open the shows.

The group are trying to give back to the Australian live music scene. How are they achieving that goal? Hands Like Houses have launched a national search for local bands to open each show, citing the lack of opportunities for said acts to play in bigger rooms.

Aussie local bands are encouraged to apply through Hands Like Houses’ social media or this form.

Already touring alongside Dream On Dreamer on the forthcoming run, the tour begins at Canberra’s The Baso on Thursday, 16 April. It continues at Sydney’s Manning Bar, Brisbane’s Princess Theatre, Sunshine Coast’s Kings Beach Tavern, Albury’s Beer Deluxe, Melbourne’s 170 Russell, Adelaide’s UniBar, and concludes at Perth’s Magnet House on Sunday, 26 April. Tickets to the tour are available here.

“There are a lot of stacked international tours rolling through right now (which is awesome), but real opportunities for local Aussie bands to play bigger rooms are still super limited,” Hands Like Houses explained.

They added, “So, we want to do this properly. We started our career opening for touring shows through Canberra, and we understand the confidence and momentum it can help build for any artist.

“We’ll check every submission; stats don’t matter, music does. Every selected support band will be PAID. Always. Much love, support local, support Aussie music.”

Since the band’s open invite to local acts went live yesterday (5 February), they’ve received over 1,000 comments across Facebook and Instagram.

Last year, Hands Like Houses released the ambitious double album, Atmospherics, which landed at #2 on the ARIA Australian Albums Chart. They also opened for the likes of The Used and The Butterfly Effect, so, for their upcoming Lótus Tour, they’re creating new opportunities for the next generation of Australian bands.

Atmospherics followed 2018’s Anon and marks the band’s first full-length release with new vocalist Josh Raven, formerly of The Faim. Raven joined Hands Like Houses after original singer Trenton Woodley departed in 2023, citing “friction” as one of the reasons for his departure.