Banished Music Presents The Bats NZ Tour

5 December 2025

Fresh from a triumphant, room-rammed set at The Other’s Way festival, Aotearoa indie legends The Bats are heading out on the road in 2026 to finally deliver the live accompaniment to their much-loved 2025 album Corner Coming Up. Recorded with Tex Houston at Chicks Studio in Port Chalmers, their 11th album Corner Coming Up charted at #1 on the IMNZ chart & #2 on the Aotearoa Music Charts and shows The Bats at their shimmering, melodic best; full of bright guitar lines, warm harmonies, and the band’s unmistakable Bats-ey sweet mystique.

A beloved part of the Flying Nun story, the band have maintained the same lineup since Robert, Kaye and Paul shoplifted Malcolm from The Bilders who played their first gig on New Year’s Eve 1982 in Dunedin.

So behold, nine shows across February and March in The Bats most extensive NZ tour in over 20 years, sharing songs from the record alongside treasured picks from their four-decades-deep knockout catalogue.

Adding to the intrigue, the Auckland headline date at Hollywood Avondale is part of Banished Music & Strange News newly minted Strange Universe show series.

THE BATS

New Zealand Tour
Celebrating Corner Coming Up

Feb 20 – Theatre Royal, Nelson
w/ Music Sucks

Feb 21 – ASB Theatre Marlborough, Blenheim
w/ Better Late Never

Mar 6 – Last Place, Hamilton
w/ Half Sister

Mar 7 – Hollywood Avondale, Auckland – now on sale (part of Strange Universe)
w/ Half Sister

Mar 12 – Paisley Stage, Napier
w/ Fleur De Lis & The Cellars

Mar 13 – St Peters, Paekākāriki
w/ The New Things