Strange Universe: Winter 2026 Announced ft. Stereolab, Dry Cleaning, Cate Le Bon, Cass McCombs, Acid Mothers Temple, The Veils, Kelly Moran, Mei Semones

From the same team who bring you the embarrassment of sonic riches that is Strange Universe: Autumn Edition — ongoing until 24th March — comes a somehow even more ambitious and bizarrely out there proposition. Banished Music and Strange News have announced Strange Universe: Winter 2026, a multi-night festival bonanza, threading through some of Tāmaki Makaurau's favourite venue hotspots from May (see note at the bottom of the page) to June.

We're not kidding when we say this lineup will knock your socks clean off. For example, connoisseurs of ultra heavy psych can happily freak out to news Japan's Acids Mothers Temple will be back in Aotearoa, opening up a mind-zapping multi-dimensional portal at Double Whammy. Yet that's just the tip of the iceberg. The all-star guestlist of headliners includes UK post-punks Dry Cleaning — whose new album Secret Love is possibly their best yet — the monumental return of sonic voyagers Stereolab (following the release of 2025's superb Instant Holograms On Metal Film), always wonderful Welsh avant-pop icon Cate Le Bon, California songwriting luminary Cass McCombs, Brooklyn-based "jazz-influenced indie J-pop" rising star Mei Semones, Brooklyn experimental composer Kelly Moran and Aotearoa's own superstars The Veils, playing a launch event for their new album Fragile World.

These will be hot ticket shows, so get ready to pounce when they go live. What next... Spring Edition? Winter II? Here are the details..

"Putting on shows is really easy, so we decided to do heaps of them all at once." - Matthew Crawley, Executive Director, Strange News Touring

Strange Universe: Winter 2026
Auckland

Cass McCombs (USA)
Tuesday 26th May – Double Whammy

Dry Cleaning (UK)
Presented in partnership with I Oh You & MG Live
Wednesday 3th June – Hollywood Avondale

Cate Le Bon (UK) 
Presented in partnership with Susie Says!
Friday 5th June – Powerstation

Mei Semones (USA)
Tuesday 16 June – The Tuning Fork

Kelly Moran (USA)
Wednesday 17 June – Kahui St David’s

Acid Mothers Temple (JP)
Friday 19 June – Double Whammy

Stereolab (UK/FR)
Thursday 25 June – Powerstation

The Veils (‘Fragile World’ Album Release)
Saturday 27 June – Powerstation

Presale tickets from 10am, Friday 13th March
General tickets from 10am, Monday 16th March
Tickets from banishedmusic.com
Subscribe to presale at banishedmusic.com/subscribe

Experience Stereolab's 2025 single 'Fed Up With Your Job'...

Boogie along with Dry Cleaning's 'Joy', from their new album Secret Love...

Take in 'Echo In The Field' from Kelly Moran's 2025 album Don't Trust Mirrors (Warp Records)...

Blast your senses with live footage of Acid Mothers Temple playing 'Dark Star Blues'...

Press release:

Even though Banished Music and Strange News are smack bang in the thick of Strange Universe Autumn, it’s been so dang fun they’ve decided now is the perfect time to reveal their first plans for Strange Universe: Winter! Set to ramp up the stakes and take over all of June and a tiny little bit of the end of May*. This first line-up announcement has everything you could set your hearts on and more, and is happening across some of Tāmaki Makaurau’s most beloved venues.

Strange Universe: Winter features the most welcome return of retrofuturist pop heroes Stereolab, Welsh chanteuse and producer extraordinaire Cate Le Bon, and the Fragile World album release show from brooding babes The Veils, all taking the stage at the mighty Powerstation. Hollywood Avondale plays host to droll indie darlings Dry Cleaning, while Double Whammy sets the scene for Japan’s psychedelic legends Acid Mothers Temple and one of the great American singer-songwriters Cass McCombs and his band. Finally, we’re adding two new venues to our list this time around, with the bilingual bossa nova of Mei Semones at the Tuning Fork, and breathtaking Warp Records favourite Kelly Moran at the exquisite Kahui St David’s.

The combined daydream of promoter pals Banished Music and Strange News, Strange Universe is the show series banner designed to celebrate the city’s brilliant venues, and give us all a little something to look forward to. The full line-up for this wintry Auckland fun-fest is coming soon, and we’ve got news for our Wellington pals shortly, but this first drop should be enough to make you wish that mittens season would hurry up and get here. It’s going to be brrrr-illiant.

*Yes, we know May isn’t in winter, but what were we supposed to do, say no to Cass McCombs?