UPDATE: Mega concert planned for Gold Coast postponed
THE promoter of the first big international rock tour of Australia - also coming to the Gold Coast - is blaming the slow vaccine rollout for an 11th-hour postponement. FIND OUT THE DETAILS
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THE promoter of the first big international rock tour of Australia - also coming to the Gold Coast next month - is blaming the slow vaccine rollout for an 11th-hour postponement.
Devastated promoter Andrew McManus has revealed the 11-date – starting on April 30 in NSW and headlined by Stone Temple Pilots and Bush – would be postponed.
It included a May 15 show, also featuring Cheap Trick, Rose Tattoo and Electric Mary, at Southport Sharks.
The postponement would be until the first quarter of next year – and all pre-purchased tickets would remain valid for the future shows.
Mr McManus, in a statement said: “Given the disappointingly slow roll-out of the vaccine by the Government, there is no confidence we can keep all safe and proceed as planned at our festivals this May.
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“The continuing mismanagement of the Covid-19 situation at all levels of government has led to numerous inconsistencies and on-going broken promises by officials that ultimately affect the safety of our patrons, artists and our crews, both domestic and international. So much so that the situation presents too much to risk to go forward with the dates as planned at the end of April and into May 2021.”
Mr McManus had clearance from Australian border authorities to bring in the acts and their crews for the tour, as revealed in the Bulletin earlier this year.
In Wednesday’s postponement statement, he added: ‘We ask you all to continue to believe in us.
“We must protect our artists and patrons. We get it ... how many times can the Australian system force another postponement? So we are making the hard decision to reschedule Under The Southern Stars to the first quarter of 2022 and ask that all our valued supporters hold on to their tickets and in return we will be announcing some truly exciting additions to the line-up and festival circuit.
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“We sincerely apologise for the situation and ask once again for our loyal patrons to #keepyourticket and stay tuned. Not only for new dates, but we are planning on making Under The Southern Stars bigger and better. It will absolutely be worth the wait. A full announcement including the rescheduled dates, additions to the line-up and more will be shared in the coming weeks.”
He cited the “very recent eleventh hour cancellation” of Byron Bay Bluesfest by the NSW Government on the eve of the landmark festival’s start date at Easter as a reason for the postponement.
Mr McManus called it “an incredibly disheartening display of what could possibly happen to our patrons, artists and crews - being left stranded high and dry only moments before one of our events is set to kick off. We wish to protect all, and avoid a situation such as this.”
REPORT FROM FEBRUARY
THE promoter of an international rock tour of Australia says the Gold Coast was added at Perth’s expense due to Western Australia’s Premier being “trigger happy” with border closures.
Promoter Andrew McManus said he added the Gold Coast to his 11-date May tour — headlined by Stone Temple Pilots, Bush and Cheap Trick as revealed in the Bulletin on Wednesday — after axing Perth.
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Perth was originally locked in with thousands of tickets sold when Mr McManus first planned the Under the Southern Stars tour a year ago. Back then the whole tour was killed off by the pandemic shutting down international travel.
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Mr McManus, who now has a green light from the Australian Border Force Commissioner to bring in the three international acts ahead of the tour kick off on April 30 at Wollongong, said: “We made decision (to add the Coast) because we can’t take the risk of Western Australia shutting its border which again it has done over one case of COVID.
“We were only ever going to do one Perth show and unfortunately for the Perth people – we had 4000 to 5000 tickets sold over there – we were supposed to be there last February.
“But from the overall point of view of the tour now if a closure happened it would send a ripple of bad news or inconsistency potentially for the rest of the other 10 dates.
“We made the hard decision to let Perth go. That way we don’t have potential shadow hanging over us the whole time from now until the tour and even when the guys are here.”
Mr McManus said the Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan had his reasons for border closures “but he is still too trigger happy for an industry that is still on its knees”.
“It’s going to be hard giving all that money and tickets back but I’m hopeful in time as things change from an international point of view, with the rollout of vaccines, the whole state by state border situation is better managed and its less trigger happy.”
Having first planned the tour, which will also feature Rose Tattoo and Electric Mary, a year ago, Mr McManus has revived the event, with four dates in NSW, three in Victoria, three in Queensland including at Southport Sharks on the Gold Coast on May 15 and one in Adelaide
He said earlier this week Queensland – having hosted the NRL and AFL seasons – was “probably the easiest state at the moment to run an event”.
Presale tickets at $119 go on sale on Friday followed by full price tickets at $139.
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A GOLD Coast concert promoter is bringing in some of the world’s biggest bands for a groundbreaking Australia-wide tour he hopes will pave the way for ongoing international gigs.
Veteran promoter Andrew McManus will announce on Wednesday that Stone Temple Pilots, Bush and Cheap Trick will play the first international tour of the country since the pandemic hit.
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It covers 11 stops – three of which will be in Queensland including a first major concert at Southport Sharks sports field on the Gold Coast.
The Under the Southern Stars tour – also featuring trailblazing Australia bands Rose Tattoo and Electric Mary – boasts four stops in NSW, three in Victoria and one in Adelaide.
Mr McManus, in the industry since the 1980s with 10 years managing The Divinyls, hopes the series will serve as a template for future international concerts.
“The objective has always been for us to try and be the first international artists to tour not only in Australia but also for the world,” he said. “What we are trying to do is to open the international borders to music.”
Mr McManus said he was working closely with local councils to ensure the 11 venues and touring group would abide with each state’s COVID-19 rules at the time.
He had approval from the Australian Border Force Commissioner to bring in the three main acts from the US ahead of the tour kick-off on April 30 in Wollongong, with rigid COVID-19 testing in place prior to their US departure and also on arrival.
“There is an enormous amount of added work and costs based around setting up two weeks quarantine, COVID marshals, more security. It’s been extremely difficult, one of the hardest projects under a continual moving platform,” he said.
But he thanked the Lord Mayor of Brisbane and Sydney, Gold Coast councillors, Premier of South Australia and Environment Minister for NSW for being critical to help “secure approval from Commissioner of Border Control for our artists’ entry”.
“We are very pumped to have received Border Control approval and whilst not taking anything lightly, are proud to be the first international artists to play a stage and open the gateway for overseas artists to tour externally from their homeland.”
Mr McManus said Queensland – having already been the country’s base for sporting competitions – was “probably the easiest state at the moment to run an event”.
“We still have some hurdles to get through in Victoria, but each day that goes by it is becoming less strained.”
Mr McManus said bands were excited to play live but many in the industry were also happy to sit back and see how it came together.
Presale $119 tickets go on sale from Friday with full price at $139 after that. Despite increased costs due to pandemic restrictions he said he would not pass it on.
MUSIC TEST FOR SHARKS
THE Southport Sharks CEO hopes the looming Under the Southern Stars concert will be the first of many at the site which typically caters for sporting events.
CEO Dean Bowtell said the major concert on May 15 would be the first time it has had a major music festival at the venue’s green fields.
“From a football perspective we have had games with up to 10,000 people here. We have run a few outdoor live music events but not to this scale.”
Andrew McManus, who is behind the concert series bringing in big international acts, said Southport Sharks offered a perfect boutique size arena, the area had good history having hosted Big Day Outs nearby at the former Parklands and the 120 Mantra hotel rooms on site would cater for the entourage.
Mr Bowtell said: “We are really excited. This is a great opportunity for the Gold Coast to support the industry, come out and see some great acts. Everyone will win from this and Andrew and his team have been great in taking this on. Someone has to be first to bust down the door to try and stimulate this industry because it has been devastating.”
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