Summer Concert Tour 2025: Cold Chisel, Bic Runga, Icehouse and Everclear join line-up

NZ Herald

25 Jun, 2024 08:00 PM3 mins to read

Cold Chisel will return to New Zealand for the Summer Concert Tour next year. Photo / Daniel Boud

The line-up for next year’s Summer Concert Tour has been revealed, with the hotly anticipated festival set to celebrate 15 years in 2025.

Next January, iconic artists Cold Chisel, Bic Runga, Icehouse and Everclear will headline performances in Queenstown, Taupō and Whitianga, with two of the three shows set to take place across Auckland Anniversary weekend.

The first show kicks off the tour in Queenstown on Saturday, January 18 next year before heading to Taupō on Saturday January 25, and then to Whitianga in the Coromandel on Sunday, January 26.

Next year marks the Summer Concert Tour’s return to the Coromandel after organisers replaced this year’s Whitianga show with a one-off stop in Hamilton due to infrastructure issues in the region following Cyclone Gabrielle.

Since the festival’s beginnings 15 years ago, it’s been enjoyed by around 450,000 people across iconic New Zealand venues.

Greenstone Entertainment CEO Amanda Calvert said in a statement it was a privilege to mark the occasion with the artists headlining this year.

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“The Summer Concert Tour has cemented itself as an annual pilgrimage where friends get together and enjoy some of the best music of our lifetime,” she said. “We are so looking forward to the 2025 Summer Concert Tour and delivering our best concert series yet.”

Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes is excited to make a comeback after undergoing open heart surgery last year, saying, “There have been plenty of times where I never thought I’d live to see this day, so I’m going to make the most of it. I can’t wait to celebrate with my mates and with all the fans who have been such a big part of our story. We’re gonna smash it.”

Meanwhile, Icehouse’s Iva Davies is excited to reprise their 2017 appearance on the Summer Concert Tour in 2025. “We can’t wait to be back again to be part of the 15th-year celebrations in January.”

Bic Runga has joined the line-up for next year's Summer Concert Tour. Photo / Tom Grut

Bic Runga is one of the most highly acclaimed artists in New Zealand, having been awarded the Apra Silver Scroll for songwriting, 20 Tūī Awards, and was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

“I’m excited to be part of the Summer Concert Tour’s 15th-year celebrations,” she said. “I can’t wait to perform alongside an iconic line-up of artists that I’ve admired for so long, at some epic summer locations right here in Aotearoa.”

90s-era alternative rock group Everclear’s frontman Art Alexakis says the Grammy-nominated band are “stoked” to join the line-up.

“It’s been seven years since we’ve been to New Zealand, and we couldn’t be more excited to get back and connect with our Kiwi fans and to be included in this awesome festival.”

Summer Concert Tour 2025 dates and ticket information

Saturday, January 18 - Gibbston Valley Winery, Queenstown.
Saturday, January 25 - Taupō Amphitheatre, Taupō.
Sunday, January 26 - Whitianga Waterways, Whitianga.

Tickets: One NZ customers can access pre-sale tickets from 10am on Thursday, June 27. Concert Club members can also purchase tickets during a pre-sale starting at 10am on Thursday, June 27. General public tickets go on sale at 12pm on Monday, July 1.