"I Apologise – It’s Been a Very Long Time Coming" Musician Jakob Dylan on Touring Australia

By the Editorial Team · Sunday, October 11, 2026

Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers will embark on their first Australian tour this December, performing their breakthrough album Bringing Down The Horse in full to celebrate its 30th anniversary. This long-awaited tour holds special significance as the band pays tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with a complete performance of Long After Dark, creating a meaningful connection between Dylan's musical legacy and Petty’s rare Australian tours.

Jakob Dylan, frontman of the rock band The Wallflowers and son of legendary musician Bob Dylan, is set to make his long-overdue debut tour in Australia this December, nearly three decades after the band first rose to prominence. Despite the widespread success of their 1996 album Bringing Down The Horse—anchored by hits such as "One Headlight"—Dylan has never performed in Australia, a fact he acknowledges with regret.

Dylan, 56, said he is unsure why The Wallflowers never toured Australia in their earlier years, despite the band’s strong presence on Australian airwaves during the height of their popularity. Opportunities to visit were missed over the past decade, including potential festival appearances. “I very much regret it,” Dylan stated, adding that the upcoming tour has long been “a long time coming” and that he and the band are “very excited to finally get there.”

The Wallflowers emerged from the Los Angeles music scene in the early 1990s. After releasing a self-titled debut album in 1992 under Virgin Records, the band experienced limited commercial success amid the grunge movement led by Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Following a shake-up at Virgin and lineup changes, The Wallflowers returned to playing clubs before signing with Interscope Records. Their second album, Bringing Down The Horse, marked a turning point and yielded several hit singles, propelling the band to international acclaim with around five million copies sold worldwide.

The album’s success garnered The Wallflowers two Grammy Awards and multiple nominations. During the peak of their popularity, they supported Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on tour in early 1997 and closed the year opening for the Rolling Stones. That year also saw Jakob Dylan perform "One Headlight" alongside Bruce Springsteen at the MTV Video Music Awards, an experience Dylan recalls fondly, noting that he had borrowed a lyric from Springsteen’s "One Step Up."

For their Australian tour, The Wallflowers will perform Bringing Down The Horse in its entirety to mark the album’s 30th anniversary. In a unique tribute, the band will also play the full 1982 album Long After Dark by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Petty was known for limiting his tours to avoid long flights and only toured Australia twice, the last time accompanying Bob Dylan in 1986, making this a symbolic full-circle moment for Jakob Dylan.

Dylan describes The Wallflowers today as a “touring business” rather than a traditional record-making entity, noting the band performs about 100 shows annually. The concept for their tour stems from a desire to offer audiences a fresh experience, with Dylan reflecting on how the songs on Bringing Down The Horse have grown more cohesive over time.

The Wallflowers will begin their national Australian tour on December 4. Ticketing and further information are available online through lovepolice.com.au.

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