Sunshine Coast artist Serendipiti will headline the first Campus Revival Tour. Photo: Supplied.

A new interstate university tour will give emerging artists paid performance opportunities while exploring why young Australians are becoming disconnected from live music.

A national touring project created by Queensland University of Technology’s student led Vermilion Records will bring free live music back to university campuses from August.

The Campus Revival Tour will run across four tours between 2026 and 2028, creating paid opportunities for more than 60 emerging artists and headline acts while giving students practical experience in bookings, production, promotion, event management and public relations.

The first tour will be headlined by rising Sunshine Coast indie-pop artist Serendipiti, with free shows at Manning Bar in Sydney, Uni Bar in Wollongong and QUT’s Botanic Bar in Brisbane.

The project will also investigate what is stopping university aged Australians from attending live music.

Rebuilding live music from the campus up

The Campus Revival Tour has been funded by Creative Australia and developed through partnerships between universities, student guilds, venues and music industry professionals.

Vermilion Records founder and project lead Associate Professor Kristina Kelman said universities had long played an important role in producing Australian artists, but that pathway needed active support.

“This tour sits at the intersection of everything we do at Vermilion, training students for the industry, giving emerging artists paid touring work, and confronting the decline in live music participation among young Australians,” she said.

“Universities have produced some of this country’s finest artists, but that pipeline doesn’t sustain itself.

“If we want a live music industry in ten years, we have to invest in where it starts, on campus, with real gigs, real audiences, and real stakes for everyone involved.”

Australian artists including Ball Park Music, The Cat Empire, Grinspoon, The Whitlams, TISM, Blue King Brown, Architecture in Helsinki and Machine Gun Fellatio all have links to university music communities.

The new model positions university campuses as cultural spaces that could become permanent live music venues open to the wider community.

Paid touring work for emerging artists

Serendipiti released her debut EP, idealist, in May.

The EP has amassed more than 60,000 combined streams, with her music compared by triple j Unearthed reviewers to artists including Sigur Rós and Florence and the Machine.

She has previously appeared at BIGSOUND and supported Thelma Plum, Infinity Song, Jem Cassar Daley and Kyle Lionheart.

During the Campus Revival Tour, Serendipiti will launch an expanded version of the EP titled idealist (realist), featuring three bonus tracks.

Local artists will join the lineup in each city.

Jacinta Drumond and Lemonise will perform at Manning Bar in Sydney, while The Ra Ta Tas and Moon Boots will support the Brisbane show.

The Wollongong date will follow the grand final of The Jam, the University of Wollongong’s student music competition.

The Campus Revival Tour dates

Thursday, August 20
Manning Bar, University of Sydney
Jacinta Drumond, Lemonise and Serendipiti
Free entry with registration

Friday, August 21
Uni Bar, University of Wollongong
The Jam grand final followed by Serendipiti
Free entry with registration

Thursday, August 27
Botanic Bar, QUT Brisbane
The Ra Ta Tas, Moon Boots and Serendipiti
Free entry with registration

Further tours and participating artists will be announced through to 2028.