Get Ready to Relive the Golden Age of Emo: An Emo Extravaganza Hits Australia in 2026

Alright, fellow elder emos, it’s time.

An Emo Extravaganza is officially happening in Australia next February, and Destroy All Lines have somehow managed to craft the lineup of our teenage dreams. Dust off the Converse and warm up those vocal cords, because we’re about to scream every word like it’s 2006 again.

Let’s start with the headliners: Anberlin. The Florida legends who basically soundtracked our entire adolescence are celebrating 20 years of Never Take Friendship Personal… yep, 20. (Please hold while I process the fact that we’re all that old now.) They’re playing the album in full, with Memphis May Fire’s Matty Mullins stepping in on vocals. Talk about an unexpected but ridiculously perfect combo.

Then there’s Cartel, who are returning to Australia for the first time in over a decade to perform Chroma in full. If you didn’t have “Honestly” on your burnt CD mix back in the day, did you even survive the MySpace era? The nostalgia here is so real.

(The one I’m most excited for) Hot Chelle Rae are also on the bill and tell me you didn’t belt out “Tonight Tonight” at least once in the early 2010s? (I have a video of me doing that somewhere on Facebook) They’ll be performing their album Whatever in full, and honestly, I’m not ready for the flood of memories that’s going to unlock.

Newcomers Broadside are making their Aussie debut, and while they might not have been around when we were crying over LiveJournal entries, their sound blends that classic emo heart with modern pop-rock polish think Taking Back Sunday meets The Killers. And rounding out the lineup is This Wild Life, whose acoustic melodies and harmonies will hit you right in the feels. They’re performing Clouded in full, so bring tissues.

And because no emo event would be complete without the afterparty vibes, AM//PM and Taking Back Saturday DJs will be spinning bangers all day between sets. Expect all the anthems. Paramore, My Chem, Fall Out Boy, The Used. You know, the works.

Here’s the dates:

Melbourne – Feb 22 @ PICA

Sydney – Feb 28 @ The Roundhouse

Brisbane – Mar 1 @ Fortitude Music Hall

Tickets go on sale Thu 13 Nov at 9am via Destroy All Lines, with early birds dropping Tue 11 Nov.

So yeah, grab your eyeliner, text your old gig buddy, and get ready to relive the glory days. Because for one glorious night, we’re all going back to a simpler time, when heartbreak was poetic, hair was flat ironed to death, and nothing healed a bad day like a good scream-along.