Rose Tattoo – one of Australia’s most revered rock bands – is hitting the road tomorrow to celebrate the band’s fourth album as it approaches its 40th anniversary – 1984’s Southern Stars.
This extensive tour will see them play dates across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia – wrapping up with what is sure to be one helluva massive gig at Brisbane’s The Zoo on November 26.
These shows are about much more than just an album for singer Angry Anderson. “This new tour will be under the banner of our Southern Stars, a flag, an idea and a legacy that is dear to my heart,” Angry explains.
The songs on the album were inspired by the Eureka Stockade, the miners uprising in Ballarat in 1854 – the most-celebrated rebellion in Australian history.
“It has always been an important moment in our history and the true and deep meaning it holds, for me, has only always been about the place it holds in our history of growth as a nation, regardless of others that have sought to appropriate or ‘own’ those stars and that flag,” Angry says.
“My loyalty has always been to those wonderful words of the diggers’ oath: ‘We swear by the Southern Cross, to stand truly by each other, and fight to defend our rights and liberties.’
