Stereolab at Against The Grain, Brisbane, 2026. Supplied.
Against The Grain is returning to Brisbane in 2026, with a huge multi-venue lineup set to take over Woolloongabba as GRAIN celebrates 10 years of shaping independent music culture.
Presented by GRAIN and Open Season, the one-day festival will take over the Clarence Corner precinct on Saturday, June 20, 2026. The event returns after an eight-year hiatus and also marks a decade of GRAIN as a promoter, online music zine and creative force in the Brisbane scene.
Set across multiple stages and venues, Against The Grain 2026 will feature more than 30 performances across five stages, alongside visual installations, DJ programming and a late-night afterparty.
Leading the lineup is Stereolab, returning to Brisbane for the first time in 17 years. They headline a bill that also includes Pond, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, The Belair Lip Bombs, Protomartyr and Hatchie.
The festival also leans into both nostalgia and forward momentum. Brisbane favourites Good Boy will reunite for a one-off performance, while Pool Shop, who played GRAIN’s first show, will return alongside Concrete Surfers and Slowrip.
Elsewhere on the bill are Cola, Acopia, Swapmeet, Public Figures, Gut Health, Twine, Selve, Tomorrow’s Forecast, 01 Thurman, PEACHY, Way Dynamic, Media Puzzle, Special Features and Xiao Xiao.
Dancefloor and afterparty
Beyond the live band program, the Echo & Bounce carpark will be transformed into an open-air dancefloor curated by Natural Steps. DJs include Sacha Alexiou, Squidgenini, Deejay Hotline, Karishma and Wil Knott. Visual curation by Madeline Holt will add another layer to the precinct experience.
The night will continue with an official afterparty at The Princess Theatre from 10pm to 2am, curated by Milo Eastwood and featuring JNETT and Adriana.
GRAIN founder Chris Langenberg said the return of Against The Grain reflects both the community around the event and the evolution of the platform behind it.
“With Against The Grain, we’ve wanted to build something that feels true to the community that surrounds it, something independent, intentional and a little bit unpredictable,” he said.
“To bring it back after eight years, and to do it at this scale with artists we’ve grown alongside, as well as those shaping what comes next, feels like a real marker of where GRAIN has come from and where it’s heading.”
Against The Grain is part of The Tivoli Group’s wider Open Season 2026 program, which again turns Brisbane into a city-wide winter celebration of live music, art and culture.
For Brisbane music fans, the festival’s return feels significant. Not just because of the lineup, but because Against The Grain has long represented a more curated, independent and community-connected version of what a city festival can be.
Against The Grain will take place across the Clarence Corner block in Woolloongabba, including The Princess Theatre, The Mater Hospital, Echo & Bounce, Season Three, Brisbane Brewhouse, C’est Bon and Woolloongabba Art Gallery.
Tickets are on sale now here.
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