Tigers Jaw's Ben Walsh Shares His Top 5 Aussie Tour Memories

From quokka encounters and cliff-jumping adventures to vintage guitar treasure hunts and one particularly unfortunate incident involving a brand-new pair of shoes, Tigers Jaw have collected some unforgettable memories on their Australian travels.

And with the beloved Scranton emo-rock outfit returning Down Under this week for their first Australian tour in three years, there’s no better time to revisit a few of their greatest hits (offstage, that is).

Fresh off the release of their seventh studio album, Lost On You, which arrived in March via Hopeless Records, Tigers Jaw are gearing up for headline shows in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, alongside a special Melbourne appearance supporting Touché Amoré at their Stage Four 10th anniversary celebration.

Ahead of the tour, we caught up with frontman Ben Walsh, who kindly took us on a trip down memory lane to share his five favourite Aussie tour moments.

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5. Taking The Plunge At The Bogey Hole

Ben: “Visiting the Bogey Hole was super fun, even though we were freezing cold. 10/10 would bogey again.”

4. Hunting For Vintage Guitar Gold

Ben: “We always try to go to as many of the amazing vintage guitar shops in Australia as time allows. Tym Guitars was a huge highlight. It was an absolute treasure trove of great vintage guitars and amps and pedals. We had a great time at Found Sound as well.”

3. Discovering Aussie Talent At Side Fest

Ben: “We played Side Fest with the lovely folks in Sly Withers and Suzi and a bunch of other incredible bands. It was so cool to get to hear so many awesome Australian musicians in one place. Daz and the Demons was a standout set for me.”

2. The Great Fremantle Shoe Disaster

Ben: “Teddy was hyping himself up to buy a sick new pair of shoes at a shop in Fremantle. He finally went for it and was wearing them around all day.

After our show we tried to go to this park to ride a flying squirrel. The park had it locked up after hours, and we spent an hour watching YouTube videos on how to pick locks.

Eventually we gave up but as we headed back to the hotel we realised there was an insane smell in the van.

Poor Teddy’s new shoes were covered in an ungodly amount of dog shit that he must have stepped in at the park.”

1. Quokkas, Cliff Jumps & A Race Against The Ferry

Ben: “We had a day off in Freo, so we went to Rottnest Island and rented bikes and chilled with quokkas.

Our friend Jackson brought us a bunch of incredible cold brew coffee. We biked all around the island trying to find a giant rock that our T.M. Mawds said was good for jumping off into the ocean.

We finally found it and had a great time jumping off and swimming.

We lost track of time and almost missed the last ferry, so we had to race the bikes back to the dock to make it in time and caught a pretty remarkable sunset.

We also got to return to Rottnest on our most recent tour, and my wife had flown to meet us at the end of the tour so it was great to share that experience with her as well.”