Seal, Bastille, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Level 42 are headlining the 2027 Summer Concert Tour, with Greenstone Entertainment confirming the line-up today for two outdoor shows across Auckland Anniversary Weekend in January.
The tour hits Wānaka's Three Parks Outdoor Arena on Saturday January 30, then the Taupō Amphitheatre on Sunday January 31. Neither venue is exactly on Invercargill's doorstep, but for anyone who's been quietly waiting for a reason to make a summer road trip north, this is a fairly compelling one.
Greenstone Entertainment CEO Amanda Calvert called out each act individually. "We're overjoyed to welcome to New Zealand, for the very first time, none other than GRAMMY award winning, 90's music superstar Seal who celebrates his 30+ year milestone in the industry."
Seal's credentials are hard to argue with. Over 30 million albums sold, more than a billion streams, four GRAMMY Awards, three BRIT Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, and an MTV VMA. His 1994 album Seal II — the one with 'Kiss From A Rose', which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 — has gone quadruple platinum. This year he completed a string of US and UK headline shows celebrating 30 years of his first two albums. Expect the greatest hits, plus covers.
Bastille return to New Zealand following their 2020 headline show at Auckland's Spark Arena. Their debut album Bad Blood — featuring 'Pompeii' — was the biggest-selling digital album of 2013, has since gone triple platinum, and sold over a million copies in the UK alone. Their 2018 collaboration with Marshmello, 'Happier', has been streamed more than seven billion times. Three UK number one albums, 13 million records sold, and a new single 'Save My Soul' released this year after a three-year gap. They remain, by any reasonable measure, one of the most streamed acts on the planet.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor is back on the heels of what has been quite a moment in her career. After featuring in the 2023 film Saltburn, 'Murder on the Dancefloor' surged to 1.4 million streams — its highest ever global count on Spotify. Her 2025 album 'Perimenopop' charted at number five in the UK, her first top five album in over a decade. She has spent this year touring internationally in support of it.
Level 42 are the fresh face in the context of this tour — New Zealand's first look at the English jazz-funk band, who spent the 1980s racking up hits including 'Lessons in Love' (number one in Britain, number 12 in the US) and 'Something About You'. Their 1985 album World Machine broke them worldwide. Forty-plus years into their career, they'll be playing songs from that album alongside a full greatest hits set.
Calvert added: "Every year we embark on an extensive search to secure the best international acts for the Summer Concert tour; with our 2027 line-up we think we've achieved the perfect balance of artist's and musical genres – it's going to be an exceptional tour."
Tickets roll out in stages. One NZ customers get first access with a 24-hour presale starting Monday September 28 at 10am. Greenstone Members' 48-hour presale begins Tuesday September 29 at 11am. Locals near both venues can buy in-store from Tuesday September 29 — in Taupō at the Taupō Visitor Information Centre and Tūrangi Customer and Visitor Centre; in Wānaka at the Queenstown isite and Wānaka isite. General public tickets go on sale Thursday October 1 at 12pm.
Over half a million people have attended a Summer Concert Tour across the event's 17-year run. At this rate, 2027 is not going to be a quiet January.