“… he never shows off, even when his playing levitates in an extended mid-air fouette. Fifty years of recordings and his newest is just as worthy as that first single on Fatal. Dumbfounding” – The Quietus
2026 marks the 50th year as a recording artist for legendary Australian musician Ed Kuepper. To celebrate he is taking to the road with The Exploding Universe (of Ed Kuepper) a full band performance featuring the added talents of drummer Mark Dawson, bassist Peter Oxley, keyboard player Alister Spence and brass arranger Eamon Dilworth as they tackle material from right across Ed’s illustrious 50 years career.
The band is blistering; Peter Oxley and Mark Dawson are locked in as tight as Superglue stuck between two fingers. Alastair Spence is masterful on keys. Eamon Dilworth on trumpet brings echoes of Miles Davis’s “Sketches in Spain” set to a solid backbeat. It rocks. “Not A Soul Around” pumps like a locomotive – just as it did when it came out in the late 1980s.” – i94bar.com
From the release of The Saints epochal 7″ (I’m) Stranded in August 1976 via the genre-defying Laughing Clowns, an ARIA award winning solo career, side journeys into The Aints and The Aints!, movie soundtracks plus continued sonic exploration via collaborations with Jim White, Asteroid Ekosystem and others and back where is all began with The Saints ’73-‘78, Ed Kuepper has forged, flourished and conquered the recorded medium many times over.
“For me Ed is a prime mover, a musician who has transformed music numerous times over, always swimming upstream, always seeking new terrain, always creating on his own terms. It’s a vast, singular body of work, no one else could have produced it. I get the same pleasure listening to his albums as I do listening to Neil Young or John Martyn or Patti Smith or Michael Rother.” – Steve Cross / Remote Control records
The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper will see Ed and band tackle material from right across his career, one of this countries storied and revered catalogues. Al shows reserved seating except where noted.
Joining Ed across select shows is Californian ex-pat and now Melbourne resident Michael Beach. Michael will perform his confessional singer-songwriter style best evidenced on Big Black Plume (one of 2025’s best albums) across select shows, while in Sydney Beach will perform in quartet mode also featuring bassist Lloyd Swanton (The Necks), guitarist Mick Turner (Dirty Three) and virtuoso drummer Joe Talia.
“To be able to conclude the tour run in Sydney with Joe Talia, Lloyd Swanton and Mick Turner makes me pinch myself. As a long time Ed Kuepper fan, it’s a total honour to be opening these shows.” – M Beach
The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper > tickets for all shows on-sale 9am Friday April 17th.