The Good Things Festival 2025 lineup has dropped, and it’s one for the ages.

Headlining is progressive metal powerhouse Tool, marking their first Australian shows in over five years and their first local festival slot since 2011’s Big Day Out. The Grammy-winning icons are celebrating 35 years together, armed with a genre-defying back catalogue from Ænima to Fear Inoculum.

They’re joined by alt-rock veterans Weezer, whose hits — from “Buddy Holly” and “Island in the Sun” to “Hash Pipe” and their viral cover of Toto’s “Africa” — have defined power-pop for decades, as well as Garbage, back in Australia for the first time in almost a decade, with Shirley Manson at the helm and a setlist of ’90s staples like “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When It Rains” as well as tracks from this year’s offering, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light.

The rest of the bill reads like a who’s who of alternative, punk, metal, and nostalgia: All Time Low, Machine Head, The All-American Rejects (their first Aussie visit in 16 years), Knocked Loose, Lorna Shore, New Found Glory, and Swedish hardcore trailblazers Refused, who’ll play their final Australian shows.

For the traditional curveball booking, James Reyne will bring Australian Crawl classics to a crowd otherwise primed for breakdowns and circle pits, while the nostalgia continues with Goldfinger and Cobra Starship.

Elsewhere, Fever 333, Make Them Suffer, Tonight Alive, Kublai Khan TX, Palaye Royale, GWAR, Yours Truly, and more round out the chaos.

Stage 666 also returns, with its sideshow of burlesque, fire-breathing, sword-swallowing and other questionable life choices.

Love Music?

Get your daily dose of metal, rock, indie, pop, and everything else in between.

Speaking to Rolling Stone AU/NZ in February, Chris O’Brien from Good Things Festival and head promoter at Destroy All Lines conceded that Australia’s festival scene is in a precarious position, but promised Good Things’ return this year.

“I’ve never seen a more challenging festival environment in my life and have never seen so many festivals cancel in such a short space of time,” he said at the time.

“Programming festivals is incredibly difficult as so many of our costs have sky rocketed over the past two to three years. The flow on effect is that the artists cost has also exploded and it makes it harder for them to come to Australia, so we have to pay more money to get them here. In the same breath we have to be conscience of our ticket prices, but our market has proved that if we keep delivering a quality lineup and a great day out, they will continue to support Good Things.

“2024 was another incredible year for us and we have managed to stay ahead of the curve and buck the trend.”

Good Things Festival 2025

Pre-sale: Tuesday, August 19th, 10am AEST – goodthingsfestival.com.au
General sale: Thursday, August 21st, 10am AEST – oztix.com.au

Friday, December 5th
Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne (16+)

Saturday, December 6th 
Sydney Showground, Sydney (16+)

Sunday, December 7th
Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane (16+)

Lineup

Tool • Weezer • Garbage • All Time Low • Machine Head • The All-American Rejects • Knocked Loose • Lorna Shore • Refused • New Found Glory • Make Them Suffer • Dayseeker • James Reyne • Kublai Khan TX • Cobra Starship • Goldfinger • Tonight Alive • Bad Nerves • Civic • Dead Poet Society • Fever 333 • GWAR • High Vis • Inertia • Palaye Royale • Scene Queen • South Arcade • Wargasm • Windwaker • Yours Truly • plus Stage 666