The best gigs happening in Melbourne this month

Right on time. Back by the beach. Jungle is back to bring the heat. To support their latest album, Volcano, the neo-soul disco-funk band has announced they will perform three dates down the east coast of Australia in May, 2024. 

Hot on the heels of performing to almost 200,000 people on their 2023 tour, the band will bring their disco-laden floor fillers to Festival Hall in Melbourne on Friday, May 17, before performing in Brisbane and Sydney. 

Founded by Londoners – and lifelong friends – Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland, Jungle released their hit single ‘The Heat’ in 2013 and met widespread critical acclaim. Their self-titled breakthrough 2014 debut album Jungle became an instant classic, earning a Mercury Prize nomination. Since then, their albums For Ever (2018) and Loving in Stereo (2021) have contributed to more than a billion Jungle streams to date. 

Concertgoers can expect to hear classic tracks like ‘Busy Earnin’’ and ‘Happy Man’ as well as new tracks from Volcano like ‘Dominoes’, ‘Back on 74’ and ‘I’ve been in Love’ (ft. Channel Tres).

Tickets to see Jungle on Friday, May 17, 2024, at Festival Hall are on sale now. For all ticket and tour information, visit the Live Nation website here.

We may not have a jungle, but why not pack a picnic and check out one of the best parks in Melbourne?

What-what, what, what? It’s time to pop some tags and look incredible in your grandad’s clothes, because Macklemore is heading back Down Under with a series of headline shows in Australia and New Zealand in May 2024.

The multi-platinum and Grammy award-winning alternative hip-hop artist behind hits like ‘Thrift Shop’ and ‘Can’t Hold Us’ just dropped his first album in six years. BEN is his third solo studio album, and includes tunes like ‘CHANT’ featuring Australia’s very own Tones And I. Admittedly very listenable, this album has thrust Macklemore back into the charts. 

Does anyone else remember when Macklemore headlined the NRL Grand Final in 2017? And he performed marriage equality anthem ‘Same Love’ just a couple of months before the result of Australia’s same-sex marriage plebiscite was announced? Anyone else remember holding up their lighter and crying when that came on at the pub? Anyone? 

Moving on, our guy was last in Australia in 2022, performing the headline slot for the fifth edition of Fridayz Live alongside legendary artists like Akon, TLC and Craig David.

After a couple of shows in New Zealand, Macklemore will play four headline shows in Australia, playing at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, May 15. The national tour will kick off at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on May 11, 12 and 13, and also head to Brisbane’s Riverstage on May 17, before rounding out his headline tour with two final show at Perth’s HBF Stadium on May 20 and 21.

New general public tickets go on sale on Thursday, November 23, from 1pm. You can snap up tickets at frontiertouring.com/macklemore. 

Looking to head out to see more live music? Here's a list of the best gigs on in Melbourne this month.