Australian Crawl To Reunite On 2026 Red Hot Summer Tour

Somewhere, an esky just cracked open by itself.

The Red Hot Summer Tour has unveiled one of its biggest and most nostalgia-loaded lineups yet for 2026 – and buried inside it is a genuinely historic Australian music moment: Australian Crawl are reuniting original members onstage for the first time in more than four decades.

Australian Crawl – ‘Reckless’

Leading the charge alongside Men At Work, next year’s run will also feature an absolutely stacked local bill including Birds Of Tokyo, Vika & Linda, Eskimo Joe, Boom Crash Opera and Ella Hooper across ten dates nationally.

But let’s talk about the Crawl.

For the first time in over 40 years, original members James Reyne, Simon Binks and David Reyne will perform together again to celebrate the music of Australian Crawl – one of Australia’s most beloved and formative rock bands. They’ll be joined by former member John Watson plus an expanded live lineup for what’s shaping up to be less reunion and more full-blown Aussie rock celebration.

Between 1978 and 1986, Australian Crawl somehow managed to cram an entire cultural legacy into less than a decade, soundtracking beach towns, road trips and pub speakers with songs that still feel genetically encoded into Aussie life.

Reflecting on the reunion, James Reyne looked back on the band’s accidental beginnings.

“We ran our own shows on the Pen and a following grew,” he said. “We decided we should perhaps give this thing a year before we returned to our studies… just to see what happens. What a ride.”

Simon Binks added: “Who would have thought that this far down the track three original members would be sharing the same stage once again.”

Meanwhile David Reyne delivered perhaps the most Australian origin story ever committed to a press release.

“A bunch of us from the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula twanged some guitars, banged some drums, blended together some tunes and played a gig or two for the local board riders’ club,” he said.

“They swung from the rafters, stomped the floorboards and drank an Army’s worth of beer… Australian Crawl was born.”

If that wasn’t enough classic Aussie energy, Men At Work are also along for the ride.

Formed in Melbourne in 1979 and responsible for era-defining hits including Down Under, Who Can It Be Now, Overkill and It’s A Mistake, the GRAMMY-winning icons will return led by founding member Colin Hay, who continues to carry the band’s catalogue around the world with his current touring lineup.

“My favourite Men At Work tour was the summer of 1981,” Hay reflected. “I very much look forward to returning, 45 years on, to join the Red Hot Summer Tour 2026… and play those songs again, for all those who want to hear them!”

Rounded out by modern Aussie favourites Birds Of Tokyo, enduring icons Vika & Linda, radio juggernauts Eskimo Joe, legends Boom Crash Opera and the endlessly magnetic Ella Hooper, Red Hot Summer 2026 feels less like a festival and more like someone opened a time capsule and accidentally booked all of Australian music.

It’ll hit the regional stops of Toowoomba, Sandstone Point, Berry, Manly, Hunter Valley, Coolangatta, Ballarat, Mornington, Swan Valley and Glenelg.

Peep all the details down below.