Katy Perry’s four sellout shows in Adelaide is why a bigger venue is needed: Frank Pangallo
Would Adelaide be able to lure more headline acts if it had a bigger entertainment venue? One MP says it must be considered after Katy Perry sold out four shows.
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Adelaide’s ability to sellout four Katy Perry concerts next year highlights why the city needs a bigger entertainment complex, independent MP Frank Pangallo says.
More than 40,000 fans will flock to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre for the June concerts, after Premier Peter Malinauskas lured her to perform while at the AFL Grand Final.
Mr Pangallo believed a larger complex to hold 15,000-20,000 spectators – up from its current capacity of 11,300 people – would also help Adelaide attract more top-billing artists.
It comes hot on the heels of metal band Metallica announcing their November 5 show at Adelaide Oval next year.
“I have no doubt a new entertainment centre with a capacity of around 20,000 would be a great return on investment for the state government, let alone drive an increase in economic activity,” Mr Pangallo said.
“Demand is there – you need look no further than the Katy Perry experiment.
“Many other international acts have bypassed Adelaide … because our current entertainment centre is too small for these big global acts to make a profit from performing here.
“Now is the time for the government to make a financial commitment to build a new larger entertainment centre before more international artists snub us.”
The Advertiser has previously reported the city had a reputation as being a slow city when it came to ticket sales, making it risky to promoters.
Five Four Entertainment director Craig Lock told a Select Committee on Local and Live Creative Venues on Wednesday the state government “cut a deal” with US pop star to entice her to perform.
“Some deal has been cut with her and I don’t know what it is, but she is probably getting free venue hire, maybe some money given to her,” he told the committee.
Lock was providing evidence on the future of the live music industry, the pressures it faces and solutions. He said government funding would help the underfunded industry.
The government has not paid Perry directly to play in Adelaide, however a deal was struck to reduce fees associated with use of the venue.
Mr Lock said the entertainment centre, which was last upgraded in 2010, was “old” and did not incentivise promoters to bring big acts to Adelaide.
“A remit of the government is always, ‘Why is Taylor Swift not coming here? Why is Oasis not playing? Why are we not getting these tours?’” he said.
“Is the Entertainment Centre causing us issues in that regard?
“Yes, it is, because it is old, it’s very expensive, we are not incentivising promoters to come here and we are not making it a lucrative place.”
The former Liberal government in 2021 had promised a new 15,000 indoor arena to replace the entertainment centre, if it was re-elected.
It was expected to cost $700m.
The Labor government in its first decision coming into power dumped the arena to free up money to spend on “fixing the state’s ramping crisis”.
A government spokesman told The Advertiser they had spoken to many of Australia’s biggest promoters and “capacity has never been raised as an issue”.
“In addition to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, we also have Coopers Stadium which recently hosted a crowd of 21,000 for the Foo Fighters and Adelaide Oval which can accommodate up to 70,000 for concerts,” the spokesman said.
Originally published as Katy Perry’s four sellout shows in Adelaide is why a bigger venue is needed: Frank Pangallo
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