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Rod Laver Arena

  • Sport and fitness
  • Melbourne
Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
Photograph: Shutterstock
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Time Out says

This premier entertainment venue has been hosting some of the world’s best in sports and music for more than three decades

Rod Laver Arena has long been the home of Australia’s most iconic events. 

Located within the Melbourne and Olympic Park complex in the city’s sporting district, the venue is perhaps most loved for its role as centre court during the Australian Open championship – and for hosting the hundreds of thousands of tennis fans that come to watch their favourite players battle it out in January. 

The venue also has other blockbuster sporting and gaming events to its name, including gymnastics, basketball, BMX and boxing – and even transformed into an Olympic swimming pool in 2007.

For music fans across every genre, Rod Laver Arena is synonymous with memories of spectacular concerts from some of the biggest names in the bizz. Think P!NK, Dua Lipa, Beyonce, Bob Dylan, Elton John and The Rolling Stones, and that’s just to name a few.

Rod Laver Arena seats more than 14,500 punters and features a retractable roof – a world-first innovation when it was first installed – as well as a range of different food and drink outlets. Accessibility features and parking are also available.

Keen on some live music? Check out our guide to Melbourne's best gigs, many of which are held at Rod Laver Arena.

Written by
Ruby Kraner-Tucci

Details

Address:
Batman Ave & Olympic Blvd
Melbourne
3000

What’s on

Blackpink

  • Pop

Blackpink is coming to Melbourne's Rod Laver! Start your K-Pop engines, fire up your best singing voice, and get ready to dance the night away as the Korean megastars hit our fair city for two nights only in June. Their 'Born Pink' world tour will tour through Asia before arriving on Australian shores. The announcement was unveiled on their Instagram page earlier this year and their epic global lineup includes two nights in Melbourne (June 10-11), two nights in Sydney (June 16-17), and one night in Auckland (June 21). The most-subscribed music act on YouTube with over 84 million followers, the South Korean pop megastars made a huge splash six years ago when they debuted back in August 2016 with their single album Square One, which featured smash hits 'Whistle' and 'Boombayah'. Blackpink is the highest-charting female Korean act ever on the Billboard Hot 100, hold the record for the best-selling album by a Korean girl group of all time, and their music video for 'Ddu-Du Ddu-Du' was the first to surpass one billion views on YouTube for a Korean artist. They have since stormed stages around the world, from London's legendary O2 Arena to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Falloon and Jimmy Kimmel Live! The Frontier Members pre-sale begins on Wednesday, February 8 (1 pm local time) and the general public sale starts on Thursday, February 9 (2 pm local time). Find out more about their upcoming 'Born Pink' world tour at the official website.

Lewis Capaldi

  • Pop

Hold us while we wait for Lewis Capaldi’s Australasian tour this coming July. Known – and adored – for his impish humour and dulcet balladry, Scotland’s very own ‘Beyoncé’ (as Capaldi refers to himself) will soon grace these shores to tour his second album, Broken By Desire To be Heavenly Sent, with performances at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on July 14 and 15, 2023.  After tickets originally went on sale, the first Melbourne show – scheduled for July 15 – sold out, but Capaldi has since added a second date, taking place on July 14.  The 26-year-old singer will be supported by the Grammy Award-nominated multi-platinum singer-songwriter Noah Cyrus, who will join Capaldi in opening arena shows across the country, with dates in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne throughout July 2023.  Born in Glasgow, the Scottish singer began learning how to play the guitar at nine, before writing songs and sneaking into pubs to play gigs. Capaldi then broke into the mainstream in the late 2010s with singles ‘Bruises’ and the international chart-topper ‘Someone You Loved’. Both songs cast his debut album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent into the limelight, where it remained at the top of the UK Albums Chart for six weeks. The lead single off Capaldi’s latest album, ‘Forget Me’, quickly became gold-certified and smashed over 100 million streams globally, and he soon joined the likes of Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Dave and Sam Smith in having a single reach number one in its first week.

Lizzo

  • Pop

Sometimes we want the truth to hurt, and with the news that Lizzo is coming to Melbourne, we don’t mind if it stings. The multi-award-winning singer teased us with her headline announcement for Splendour in the Grass, and now she has announced that she will be also but hitting up Perth, Sydney and Melbourne with The Special Tour 2023.  The Grammy Award and Emmy Award-winning singer, songwriter, rapper (and good as hell flautist)’s tour commences in Perth on July 14 before she makes her way to Rod Laver Arena on July 17 and 18 with special guest Zimbabwean-Australian singer-songwriter Tkay Maidza. Lizzo’s hugely successful second full-length album Special is her biggest, boldest and brightest work yet, and is teeming with joyful disco funk songs about self-acceptance, hope and gratitude. The album saw Lizzo receive four nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, with her smash hit single 'About Damn Time' obliterating the charts and taking the title of Record of the Year.  The pied piper of pop first broke onto the music scene with her 2019 debut album Cuz I Love You, which offered up countless hits like ‘Tempo’ with Missy Elliott, ‘Good as Hell’ and ‘Truth Hurts’ that all reached platinum status. ‘Truth Hurts’ even raced to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and made history as the longest running number one by a solo female rap artist ever. To ensure you get tickets to see the queen herself, the American Express Pre-sale runs from 11am on March 24 until 11am on March 28.

Luke Combs

  • Folk, country and blues

When it rains, it pours, and it's downright torrential with the news that country singer-songwriter Luke Combs is coming to Australia for the first time since his sold-out 2019 headline shows.  The upcoming tour is the latest milestone for the country music superstar, whose acclaimed album Growin’Up debuted at #1 on Billlboard’s Top Country Albums in June. Hailing from North Carolina, Combs began singing in vocal groups before hitting the local gig circuit. In 2014, he headed to Nashville to pursue a music career, where his single ‘Hurricane’ earned him a contract with River House/Columbia Nashville. The success set the stage for Combs’ full-length debut This One’s for You, debuting at number one on Billboard’s Country Albums chart upon its release. Ever since, Combs’ country tunes have earned him Billboard Music Awards’ Top Country Artist, two Grammy nominations, four Academy of Country Music Awards and two iHeart Radio Music Awards. Presented by Frontier Touring and Chugg Entertainment, the country legend will perform at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on August 19 and 20, and you can expect to hear all his classic tracks like ‘The Kind of Love We Make’, ‘When It Rains It Pours’, ‘Love You Anyway’ and ‘Beautiful Crazy’. He will be joined by US country star Cody Johnson and Australian singer-songwriter Lane Pittman. For tickets, head to the Frontier Touring website. Get ahead of the curve and check out Melbourne's best upcoming gigs with tickets on sale now.

Light It Up

  • Music festivals

In news all hip-hop fans have been dreaming of, a brand new, all-ages festival is coming to Australia's biggest arenas – and the line-up features some of the most sought-after names in the genre. Light It Up will mark the next major step for hip hop-focused festivals in the country. Leading the announcement is North Dakota juggernaut and entrepreneur Wiz Khalifa, who will headline shows in Australia for the first time since his 2015 sell-out tour, which came off the back of the globally revered single, ‘See You Again (ft. Charlie Puth)’, from the Fast & Furious 7 soundtrack. Joining Wiz Khalifa on the national festival run will be American hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd and Brooklyn-based Billboard Hot 100 charting artist Lola Brooke, fresh from huge sets at this year's Coachella. While Rae Sremmurd will be landing Down Under for the first time since their stand-out performance at FOMO Festival in 2019, Lola Brooke will officially be making her Australian debut. In addition to a line-up stacked with top-tier American hip-hop acts, Aussie hip hop will also be front and centre, with NSW’s very own pioneer of Australian drill, Samoan/Chinese artist Hooligan Hefs and Australian-Samoan hip-hop rising star Youngn Lipz, as well as the DMC Champion DJ BeastMode. The festival will hit Rod Laver Arena on Friday, September 8, with shows also in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Auckland. Pre-sale tickets drop at noon on Thursday, June 1, and general public tickets are on sale from noon on

Sam Smith

  • Pop

How do you sleep knowing that in a matter of months, British pop superstar Sam Smith will return Down Under with their brand-new tour? The singer-songwriter will grace Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on October 31 and November 1 to support their forthcoming studio album, Gloria. Gloria The Tour will see the ‘Like I Can’ singer play arenas in five cities on a journey that will first stop off in Adelaide and traverse Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland.  The upcoming 13-track album is the non-binary singer's boldest statement yet, and comes off the back of the huge success of the ARIA #1 single, ‘Unholy’, featuring Kim Petras. The smash-hit single continues to reign at #1 on the charts and has surpassed 1.3 billion streams globally, with 36 million streams in Australia alone.  The LGBTQ+ icon has shared what fans can expect from their upcoming tour, which the singer says “feels like emotional, sexual and spiritual liberation.” Adding, “It feels like I’ve got my faith back in my job. So it was beautiful, with this album, to sing freely again for me. It feels like a coming of age.” Since their 2014 debut number one album, The Lonely Hour, the singer has amassed many accolades and achievements, including 36 million albums sold, 250 million singles and 49 billion multi-platform streams. Smith’s catalogue of instant hits includes ‘Too Good at Goodbyes’, ‘I’m Not The Only One,’ ‘Dancing with a Stranger’, ‘Stay with Me’, ‘How Do You Sleep’ and many more.  Tickets for Gloria The Tour

Blink-182

  • Rock and indie

Blink-182 are back, and what's our age again? It must be getting up there because it's been nearly ten years since they toured – and this time around, they're reuniting to bring the original threesome of Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker to Australia. Kicking off a five-date tour in Perth on February 8 and 9, 2024, Blink-182 will then head to Adelaide on February 11 before hitting Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on February 13, 14 and 26. After we've had our fill of their stacked back catalogue, including 'All The Small Things', 'Adam's Song' and 'I Miss You', they'll head to Sydney on February 16, 17 and 23 and Brisbane on February 19, 20 and 21. Although 1997's Dude Ranch was a lot of our first introduction to Blink-182's attitude-filled punk rock, they truly hit the mainstream with their third album Enema of the State in June 1999, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide and propelled them to pop-punk stardom off the back of huge singles like 'What's My Age Again?'. The following years saw DeLonge exit the band twice, Barker experience a life-changing plane crash, and Hoppus a cancer diagnosis. Since then, they appear to have made amends, with these Australian dates a quick stop on a multi-date world tour. General public tickets go on sale for Blink-182's Melbourne show on Thursday, October 20 at 1pm at Live Nation. Get in quick, because if you miss out, you'll surely be singing 'Dammit'. Looking for more gigs in Melbourne? Check out our list of all the best gig

Niall Horan

  • Pop

The only direction we will be heading in is towards Rod Laver Arena after hearing the news that former One Direction’er Niall Horan will perform next autumn. The hugely popular – and all-round ‘cheeky chappy’ – will return to Australia in 2024 for three huge shows in Brisbane, Sydney, and, of course, our dear Melbourne. The singer will perform on May 3, 2024, off the back of his most recent album, The Show, which is scheduled to drop on June 9, 2023. Concertgoers can expect to hear tracks from the forthcoming album but also a whole mix of songs from his solo career, including fan favourites like 'Slow Hands', 'This Town' and 'Nice to Meet Ya' — he may even have the odd surprise, cover song or unreleased track up his sleeve. Since finding fame as a member of the globally successful band One Direction, Horan embarked on a solo career in 2016. He has since established himself as a talented singer with bucketloads of on-stage charisma and an infectious blend of pop, folk and rock.  Tickets to see Niall Horan will be released on June 2 at 10am local time. You can get tickets and more info on the TEG Live website. Get ahead of the curve and grab tickets to Melbourne's upcoming gigs before they sell out.

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