Emo favourites Cartel and American Music Award winners Hot Chelle Rae are set to make their highly anticipated return to Australia next month for the inaugural alternative event An Emo Extravaganza. Both bands also announce a limited run of headline shows surrounding their appearances.

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Presented by Destroy All Lines, Cartel will perform a run of headline shows with support from This Wild Life, visiting Stay Gold in Melbourne and The Gov in Adelaide, before headlining Waves in Wollongong with special guests Hot Chelle Rae. Hot Chelle Rae will also deliver their own headline performances at Magnet House in Perth and Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide, supporting Cartel at Waves in Wollongong. Across the shows, both bands will celebrate their defining releases - Cartel’s Chroma and Hot Chelle Rae’s Whatever - delivering full-album performances alongside a stack of fan favourites.

Cartel return to Australia for the first time in over a decade. Breaking out in the mid-aughts, Cartel artfully threaded the space between the turn-of-the-millennium pop-punk tidal wave and the widespread virality of the social media generation. As the group stares down the 20th anniversary of their 2005 breakthrough LP, Chroma, they do so with both an appreciation for what their past has afforded them and an excitement for what the future holds. Chroma spawned the Gold-certified hit “Honestly,” and catapulted the childhood friends onto Warped Tour, TRL, Epic Records, and millions of MySpace Top 8s. 

Best known for their triple-platinum smash "Tonight Tonight" and Top 40 belter "I Like It Like That", Hot Chelle Rae rose to global prominence with their 2011 sophomore album Whatever. The band spent years refining their live show touring alongside the likes of Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber, cementing their reputation as one of the era’s most undeniable pop-rock acts. Following a period focused on songwriting and creative growth, Hot Chelle Rae have recently returned reenergised, armed with new material and a renewed appreciation for the songs that made them household names. For Australian fans, these headline shows promise a trip down memory lane.

The headline dates surround both bands performances at An Emo Extravaganza, landing in Australia this February. The inaugural event brings together a stacked international lineup headlined by Florida alt-rock icons Anberlin, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Never Take Friendship Personal, alongside Broadside who will make their Australian debut, and This Wild Life performinged in its entirety.