Rob Thomas announces Aussie tour and who would play him in an INXS-style Matchbox Twenty miniseries

IF Rob Thomas ever gets an INXS-style miniseries, the rocker knows who he wants to play him. And he’s shooting for an A-list Aussie.

Musician Rob Thomas for Hit usage ahead of his Aus tour. Picture- Nicole Cleary

NOTE to Hugh Jackman: when you’re done with your Broadway schtick, Rob Thomas has your next great musical role all lined up.

Thomas, the Matchbox Twenty frontman and solo rocker, has picked Jackman as the man to play him when Australia’s current obsession with turning musical icons (INXS, Peter Allen) into TV miniseries finally gets around to ‘The Untold Story of Matchbox Twenty’.

“Hugh Jackman! Why not? Make me all buff. If we’re gonna do something that’s going to be a lasting memory, I’d like it to be more impressive than the actual me,” Thomas said in Melbourne on Monday.

“So Hugh Jackman as Wolverine playing me. That would be awesome. And I’d take liberties with the truth — like the time I liberated Australia from the British.”

... but could he pull off Rob Thomas rocking Down Under mode? Picture: Cameron Tandy

Hugh Jackman has the poise in Broadway to Oz mode ... Picture: Supplied

As for any real-life events on Aussie soil dramatic enough to make the TV cut, Thomas drew a blank.

“If there was,” he said, “it was probably during that whole period of my life I don’t remember very well.”

US singer Thomas has enjoyed a 20-year love affair with Australia and will be back to stoke the fires this summer when he tours his latest and third solo album The Great Unknown.

The tour begins at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on February 20, and wraps with A Day on the Green at Rochford in the Yarra Valley on March 5. In between, he’ll also play the steps of the Sydney Opera House.

When the Opera House date was confirmed, Thomas said his mind leapt immediately to Crowded House’s farewell concert on the steps — which took place 20 years ago next year.

“That was the first thing I thought of! I was like, ‘Oh, shit! Does this mean I’m over?’,” Thomas laughed.

The cover of Thomas’s third solo album, The Great Unknown (Warner Music)

Tickets for the tour go on sale next Wednesday.

Thomas also performs on Tuesday night’s X Factor on Channel 7.

FULL 2016 ROB THOMAS TOUR DATES

February 20 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

February 22 — Royal Theatre, Canberra

February 24 — Sydney Opera House Forecourt

February 27 — Hope Estate Winery, Hunter Valley, NSW

February 28 — A Day on the Green, Sirromet Wines, Mt Cotton, QLD

March 2 — Kings Park & Botanic Garden, Perth

March 5 — A Day on the Green, Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley, VIC

March 6 — Clipsal, Adelaide

Telstra Thanks pre-sale starts Friday at 10am. General on-sale November 25 at 10am. Info: livenation.com.au

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Originally published as Rob Thomas announces Aussie tour and who would play him in an INXS-style Matchbox Twenty miniseries