City Square roars back to life with surprise ALWAYS LIVE concerts

After eight years behind construction hoardings, Melbourne’s City Square made its long-awaited return – and it did so in true Melbourne style, with a surprise rock-and-roll performance that drew hundreds into the freshly upgraded precinct.

The pop-up concert, staged as part of the ALWAYS LIVE Melbourne Vibes series, saw Jimmy Barnes, Kate Ceberano and Ian Moss take to the stage on the newly reopened square – marking the first major public event held on the site since it was closed in 2017 for Metro Tunnel construction works.

The high-energy lunchtime set reignited the square’s legacy as a live-music landmark, echoing earlier eras when AC/DC, Crowded House, Kylie Minogue and Missy Higgins all performed on the same patch of civic ground.

On Sunday, November 23, the crowd spilled across the new paving in scenes reminiscent of the precinct’s heyday, with curious visitors all stopping to claim a vantage point.

The one-off event was designed to celebrate the imminent opening of the Metro Tunnel, with the new Town Hall Station – accessible directly beneath City Square – now only days away from welcoming its first passengers. Ministers, city workers and music fans gathered to witness the milestone moment, heralding the beginning of a new chapter for what is set to become one of Melbourne’s most visited public spaces.

The square has undergone a significant redesign as part of the Metro Tunnel project. A new Smoking Ceremony dish, developed with Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Joy Wandin Murphy OAM, now forms its cultural centrepiece, framed by 12,000 hand-laid pavers and lush, modern landscaping. Beneath the surface, five escalators at the Collins Street edge descend into a dramatic two-tiered station concourse – the “square beneath a square” – which will open to the public when retail tenancies begin trading next year.

The concert was delivered under ALWAYS LIVE’s new Melbourne Vibes program – a summer-long series of free pop-up performances designed to activate key CBD precincts and laneways. The initiative has been shaped in partnership with Melbourne’s hospitality and accommodation sectors, aiming to boost foot traffic and support businesses during the busy festive season.

The broader program follows a blockbuster month of major events across Victoria, with the Spring Racing Carnival and international stars including Metallica, Mariah Carey, Pitbull, RÜFÜS DU SOL and Diljit Dosanjh drawing tens of thousands into the city.

For many in attendance on Sunday, the new-look City Square itself took centre stage, which has been finally restored to public life after years of construction.

The performance offered Melbourne a preview not only of the revived space, but of the energy expected once the Metro Tunnel opens and the precinct becomes a major gateway to the CBD.

And with free public transport across Victoria every weekend until February, the state government is urging Victorians to make the most of the new-look square and its summer-long calendar of live music moments.

ALWAYS LIVE CEO Psyche Payne said, the pop-up series was all about “attracting people and positive activity to the places and spaces for which Australia’s live music capital is renowned.”