Sydney is about to get three chances to see The Chats do what they do best: turn a crowded room into a loud, sweaty and gloriously unpretentious celebration of Australian punk.
The Sunshine Coast trio will bring their Half Cut Australian tour to Crowbar in Leichhardt from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November 2026. The three Sydney dates are part of a 17-date national tour supporting the band’s first new album in five years.
With a new record on the way, a fresh single already out and Crowbar’s Parramatta Road headquarters ready to get noisy, this is shaping up as one of the more energetic music weekends on Sydney’s November calendar.
The Chats are bringing the chaos back home
The Chats formed on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 2016 and built their reputation around what they describe as “shed rock”. The sound is fast, rough around the edges and packed with the kind of hooks that can turn a small-room audience into one loud, enthusiastic chorus.
The current lineup features Eamon Sandwith on bass and vocals, Josh Hardy on guitar and Matt Boggis on drums.
The band broke through internationally with Smoko in 2017, a song that transformed a very Australian durry-break anthem into a viral punk phenomenon. Since then, The Chats have released several singles and albums, toured extensively and taken their distinctly Australian style of rock to audiences well beyond the Sunshine Coast.
The band’s appeal has always come from its ability to make ordinary details feel larger, louder and much funnier than expected. There is no polished distance between The Chats and their audience. The songs arrive quickly, the jokes are rarely subtle and the live performances are built for crowded venues where standing still becomes increasingly difficult.
A new chapter with Half Cut
The Chats’ third studio album, Half Cut, is due for release on Friday, 5 March 2027. It follows Get Fucked, released in 2022, and introduces a slightly broader version of the band without sanding away its rougher edges.
The new album’s opening track, Off It, is already available to stream, along with a suitably chaotic music video. Other announced song titles include Half Arsed, Hanging Shit and Brown Bottle Flu, which suggests that The Chats have not suddenly traded their humour for serious singer-songwriter introspection.
Half Cut may leave a little more room for reflection, but The Chats still seem to live in a world of bad decisions, sore heads, awkward confrontations and the occasional brown bottle.
The band recorded the album at Maple Sound Studio in Los Angeles with Frenzal Rhomb frontman Jay Whalley. Listeners can expect songs about hangovers, confrontation, reconciliation and rehabilitation, all carried by the direct Australian lyricism and rowdy rock’n’roll energy that have made The Chats so recognisable.
In other words, The Chats may be developing, but they are not becoming respectable.
The Chats Sydney dates at Crowbar
The Chats will play three consecutive nights at Crowbar Sydney:
- Thursday, 19 November 2026
- Friday, 20 November 2026
- Saturday, 21 November 2026
Crowbar is at 345 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt, making it an easy venue to find for anyone heading west from the city or exploring Sydney’s inner west for the evening.
The independent live-music venue and pub has been part of the local scene since opening in 2018. Its live room holds around 550 people, while the front bar provides a smaller stage for more intimate performances.
There is also a pool table, pinball machines, a spacious patio and a dog-friendly beer garden. It is the sort of venue where the night can begin with a drink and a look around, then quickly become much louder once the band takes the stage.
For The Chats, Crowbar feels like a natural fit. The venue is substantial enough for a well-established touring act, but still close enough to preserve the sense of danger and immediacy that makes punk shows so much fun.
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From viral fame to international stages
The Chats have come a long way since Smoko introduced them to the wider world.
Following the release of Get Fucked, the band toured across multiple continents and supported acts including Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and The Hives. In 2026 The Chats also toured the United States with The Hives and performed at Coachella in April and in Toronto, Canada in September.
Those international performances have taken the band to much larger audiences, but the return to Australia brings them back to the kind of venues that helped shape their identity in the first place.
That is part of the attraction of the Sydney dates. This is not a distant arena performance where the band disappears behind screens and production equipment. At Crowbar, the audience will be close to the stage, close to the noise and close enough to feel the room change once the first song starts.
What to expect from the three Sydney nights
Expect loud guitars, sharp lyrics, quick songs and a crowd that knows exactly why it is there.
The Chats’ performances are energetic without needing much ceremony. There is no need for an elaborate introduction when the songs are short, direct and designed to get people moving. The new Half Cut material will sit alongside tracks from the band’s earlier catalogue, giving long-time fans something familiar while introducing the next stage of The Chats’ sound.
The three-night run also gives Sydney fans a rare chance to choose their preferred evening. Thursday may suit anyone wanting to get the weekend started early, while Friday and Saturday should bring an even bigger after-work and late-night crowd.
Whichever date they choose, fans can expect a proper Crowbar night: a packed live room, plenty of volume and an atmosphere that is far removed from sitting politely at the back of a concert hall.
Event details
Event: The Chats – Half Cut Australian Tour
Sydney dates: Thursday 19, Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November 2026
Venue: Crowbar Sydney
Address: 345 Parramatta Road, Leichhardt NSW
Album: Half Cut
Album release date: Friday, 5 March 2027
Tickets: On sale now through The Chats’ official website
See the full list of dates & locations for 2026/2027: Tour dates
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