Why Harry Styles picked Gold Coast over Brisbane

The Gold Coast pulled off a Harry Styles coup, snaffling the megastar’s Queensland show from Brisbane through a strategic bid. 

• Harry’s Aussie setlist

The Gold Coast pulled off a Harry Styles coup, snaffling the megastar’s Queensland show from Brisbane through a strategic bid. 

The Grammy winner and former One Direction star, who arrived to fanfare for the Australian leg of his tour this week, is bypassing Brisbane and instead performing his Love on Tour show at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast next Tuesday, in what is an ongoing strategy to raise the Gold Coast’s reputation as a touring destination. 

Styles was originally scheduled to perform at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in late 2020, having performed at the venue during his last visit in 2018, before ongoing Covid restrictions led to the tour’s cancellation.

When Styles locked in new Australian dates, with his rising popularity upgrading him to a stadium tour, Major Events Gold Coast – an arm of the City of the Gold Coast – launched a bid with promoter Live Nation to lure Styles to the Gold Coast.

Harry Styles kicked off his Aussie tour with a sold out show at Perth's HBF Park. Picture: BACKGRID

Styles announced his rescheduled tour in early 2022, switching his shows in Sydney and Melbourne from arenas to stadiums, and swapping out the 13,500 capacity Brisbane Entertainment Centre to the larger Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast.

The move bypassed Brisbane’s alternate offerings, with Suncorp Stadium already hosting Ed Sheeran, Sir Elton John and the Red Hot Chili Peppers during a packed start to the year.

“Major Events Gold Coast worked hard to secure Harry Styles’ only Queensland show for the Gold Coast, and it is very much part of our strategy for building the city’s reputation as an international music events destination,” said Major Events Gold Coast chief executive Jan McCormick.

“Aside from the already well recognised natural attributes of our destination, we have also shown we have the ability to sell out stadiums. For global artists choosing which cities to put on their tours, that’s a pretty appealing combination.”

Harry Styles does a shoey at his Perth show.

A Stadiums Queensland spokesperson said decisions on venues and tour schedules were a matter for promoters.

While there are limited and specialty tickets still available for Styles’ Gold Coast show, general admission is considered a sellout – with the majority of tickets nabbed by fans from out of the region who are visiting the Gold Coast.

Metricon Stadium has also landed a date in Pink’s national tour next year with the pop star performing at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane as well as on the Gold Coast.

It comes as comedian Chris Rock was among the international stars who stayed at the Gold Coast’s luxe new hotel offering The Langham during his Australian tour in August while performing dates across both Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Styles’ midweek concert – which will undoubtedly cause a headache for M1 commuters – also came amid a packed opening start to the year for international touring.

He was among a number of big-names acts. including Sheeran, dealing with pandemic postponements and working to reschedule global tours among an uncertain global landscape, and capped stadium availability.

After hosting three Sheeran shows last week, Suncorp Stadium will open their NRL calendar with an opening round clash on March 5, which would have been a tight turnaround for the ground staff.

The venue’s previous cap of six concerts per year was doubled by the Queensland Government late last year, allowing the major venue to host 12 shows in both 2023 and 2024 in a bid to boost the live music industry.

Styles’ Gold Coast concert was already locked in at the time, jostling for space amid the influx of rescheduled tours.

The cap includes individual shows, meaning Sheeran’s tour last week has now accounted for three of the 12 concerts allowed to take place at Suncorp Stadium this year.