Love anime music? Anime Music Festival is back for its third year, bringing another unforgettable rocking night of anime’s greatest hits! And this year we are taking over the The Leadbeater Hotel!

Anime cover bands ep.12 and Mouikkai team up with anisong DJ 35Low of Moonflare to create a spectacular night of the songs you know and love.

You’ll hear your favourite anime openings, endings and insert songs, from classics like Naruto, Angel Beats and Love Live to fresh hits from Ado, Dandadan, Jujutsu Kaisen and more! From fiery shounen openings to sparkly idol songs and everything in between, there will be something for every anime fan!

So grab your lightsticks and get ready to sing, dance, “hai” and rock out to your favourite anime songs!

Date: Friday 25 September 2026 | Doors: 7:30pm

Location: The Leadbeater Hotel, 1 Church St, Richmond VIC 3121

18+ event

Tickets on sale now

Presale price: $29.99

Door price: $35

Anime Music Festival 2026

EMO NIGHT 2000s 🖤

Relive the golden era of emo, pop punk and alternative rock as we throw it back to the biggest anthems of the 2000s. Get ready for a night of singalongs, nostalgia and all the songs that shaped a generation.

🎸 DJ Queen Dani will be spinning all the hits from:

My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Taking Back Sunday, Panic! At The Disco, The Used, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Blink-182, Sum 41 and more.

📍 The Leadbeater Hotel

📅 Saturday, 26 September

🕗 Doors Open: 8:00 PM

Whether you're screaming every lyric, reliving your teenage years, or discovering the classics for the first time, this is your chance to embrace the eyeliner, the angst, and the unforgettable music.

All the angst. All the hits. All night. 🖤🎶

2000s EMO NIGHT

Five Buck Kid have fast become one of Australia’s must-see acts. Their energetic live show is full of hooky choruses, big guitar riffs, screeching sax solos and thunderous drums. In October 2026, the indie rock outfit are hitting the road to celebrate the release of their new single “I Don’t Mind”.

With a sound channelling the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Sam Fender and Kings of Leon, Five Buck Kid are self-managed, self-produced, and self-funded. Their mission is to be a breath of fresh air in the everchanging Australian music scene, creating anthems for the working class, the hopeful and the lost.

Five Buck Kid – “I Don’t Mind” Tour

Melting are bringing their brand of relentless sonic aggression to the Leadbeater Hotel on October 3. Celebrating the release of their sophomore EP A Pathetic Excuse For A Life, a bludgeoning 6 tracks of blended metal, hardcore, sludge and doom.

Joining in the chaos are Frankston crossover titans Fever Shack, Sri Lankan hardcore hype Illan Kaapan, TAS hardhitters GH7K and new blood Solis, playing their first show.

This event is barricade free and strictly 18+

Melting - A Pathetic Excuse For A Life EP Launch Show

NEIGHBOURHOOD NOISE provides a lineup of homegrown and local Aussie acts featuring Strawbz, Daniel Serpa, Unspoken Rule and Infuse. Come and support local bands. The majority of proceeds go towards helping Australian musicians!

Neighbourhood Noise

MOBS are a Melbourne alternative/indie pop band returning in 2026 after a three-year hiatus.

Since forming in 2012, the band has independently built a loyal following through multiple EPs, their debut album Cinema Paradiso, national touring, and releases with Italian label Rude Records.

After stepping away from the band, the three members recently reunited with a renewed creative focus and have spent the past few months writing and recording new music. Their first single, Never Again, marks the beginning of a new chapter for the band.

This headline show will be MOBS' first live performance in over three years and celebrates the launch of their comeback.

MOBS - Something Different

Following her sold-out headline debut, Australian pop artist Brittany Holt returns with the Everything, All At Once Tour. Expect an unforgettable afternoon of anthemic pop, heartfelt moments and brand-new music from her upcoming EP.

Brittany Holt — Everything, All At Once Tour

Nearly Friday return to the stage at The Leadbeater Hotel, Richmond to launch their new single ‘Honey’, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the Naarm/Melbourne five-piece.

After a long hiatus spent writing and recording new material, Nearly Friday are stepping back into the live scene with a collection of new songs ready to be heard. The first of these to be released is ‘Honey’, a warm yet slightly off-kilter track that captures the strange feeling of catching your own reflection and not quite recognising the person looking back.

Blending classic synth-pop rock with contemporary indie influences, Nearly Friday draw inspiration from artists spanning the 70s through to today. Their music combines melodic guitars, synth-driven textures and atmospheric production, with ‘Honey’ offering the first glimpse into the band’s next body of work.

Joining Nearly Friday for the launch are Merkani, a six-piece indie rock band bringing raw, heartfelt songwriting and an energetic sound shaped by six mates with a shared love of music.

Also appearing are Post Fiction, a Melbourne alternative rock and indie-pop four-piece combining classic songwriting with modern production, synth-pop textures, commanding vocals and scorching guitars.

With new music, a selection of previously unheard material and their first show back after an extended period away from the stage, Nearly Friday’s ‘Honey’ single launch marks the start of what comes next.

Nearly Friday

We Set Signals return to Melbourne as part of their Interstice Album Tour for a headline show at the Leadbeater Hotel. Fresh off a string of packed headline shows, the Brisbane metalcore outfit brings their biggest set yet, featuring tracks from the new album alongside fan favourites. Joining them on the tour are Central Coast heavyweights Stone Lions, with Melbourne support acts to be announced.

We Set Signals “INTERSTICE” Tour

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of their critically-praised and fan-adored debut album 'Asleep In The Machine', Yugambeh/Gold Coast-based duo Bootleg Rascal have just revealed a 13-date Australian tour taking place from September to November.

Stopping off in metropolitan and regional centres, the band will perform tracks from 'Asleep In The Machine', plus their most recent and fourth self-titled studio album, and all the classics from their extended discography.

'Asleep In The Machine' is one of Bootleg Rascal's most career-defining moments. Performing the title track on triple j's Like A Version, and amassing 35 million streams across Spotify and Apple Music, the record solidified the duo's signature blend of indie-rock, hip-hop, electronica and dub, ultimately serving as the catalyst for a decade of relentless touring and a fiercely loyal global fanbase.

Bootleg Rascal - ‘Asleep In The Machine’ 10th Anniversary Tour

We are very excited to welcome back Half Me for their first Australian Headline Tour, off the back of last year’s fully sold-out Australian tour supporting Thrown the boys have taken the reigns!

The band will be dropping their long-awaited Sophomore Album Crusade at the start of the tour so get ready to hear these songs first!

Joining them on their lap are Aussie favourites Diesect following successful tours with Miss May I, Spite and Varials. Perth’s Metalcore Quartet Darkmatter - back with a vengeance and Western Sydney Deathcore Kids Cultists will definitely turn heads! Once again... This is not one to be missed!

Half Me 'Crusade' Australian Tour

After a huge year of conquering the world, Melbourne metalcore standouts HEAVENSGATE are finally coming home with The Angel Hymns Australian Tour this October and November. Joined by Greyscale Records label mates Mélancolia and rising Sydney outfit Irken Armada, the five-date run will see HEAVENSGATE bring their internationally renowned live show back to Australian stages.

The Angel Hymns Tour arrives off the back of a stack of milestone achievements, including last week's single release that saw them join forces with We Came As Romans for a reimagined version of "red smoke", featured on WCAR’s upcoming special release All Is Beautiful...Because We’re Doomed: Circularity via SharpTone Records.

At the heart of HEAVENSGATE’s rise is their latest EP, A HEART IS A HEAVY BURDEN, a release that pooled the band's collective experiences into a sonically raging yet deeply personal take on modern metalcore that proved to resonate deeply with listeners. Building on the foundations laid by their 2022 debut EP AND ALL I LOVED, I LOVED ALONE, the record further cemented HEAVENSGATE as a vital new force in heavy music.

The Angel Hymns Australian Tour will land in between a North American run supporting 156/Silence and Aviana throughout September, followed by a European and UK tour alongside thrown, Counterparts and No Cure across November and December.

Joining HEAVENSGATE across Australia is Mélancolia, who have quickly established themselves as one of kind within Australia’s metal community. Since emerging in 2022, the band have released two critically acclaimed albums, HissThroughRottenTeeth and random.access.misery, via Greyscale Records and Nuclear Blast, and shared stages with Thy Art Is Murder, To The Grave, Fallujah, Cattle Decapitation, Ingested, Vulvodynia, Suffocation and more. Following multiple Australian tours and two European/UK runs, Mélancolia have well and truly made their mark beyond home soil, and were coined one of Metal Hammer’s "brilliant new metal bands you need to hear".

Opening the shows will be Sydney metalcore five-piece Irken Armada, who have been steadily carving a name for themselves with a sound that nods to the genre’s mid-2000s heyday. Drawing influence from the likes of Underoath and Every Time I Die, the band blend nostalgia with a modern metalcore edge.

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