Revealed: The real reason why top international music acts such as Taylor Swift snub Adelaide
Industry insiders and top promoters have revealed the truth behind why a long list of major artists – including Taylor Swift – are bypassing Adelaide on their Australian tours.
When Katy Perry announced in September that she had left Adelaide off her 2025 Australian tour, it was the last straw for many local music fans.
The US pop megastar had joined a chorus of international artists in snubbing the City of Churches over the past two years, from Taylor Swift, Lizzo and Harry Styles, to Coldplay, Green Day, Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam and The Killers.
The news was a bitter pill to swallow – especially after Perry had played three sold-out Adelaide gigs on her last visit in 2018 – and the outcry was swift from music lovers who felt they’d been dudded once again.
Enter Peter Malinauskas. A much-publicised personal plea from the SA Premier at the AFL Grand Final, where Perry was the pre-match entertainment, was enough to woo the Teenage Dream singer into a change of heart. She eventually locked in four precious dates at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in June.
But the Premier can’t step in and secure every rogue artist who decides to bypass Adelaide – or can he? What can be done to ensure more of music’s biggest names take to the stage in SA?
It’s long been believed that Adelaide’s reputation as a slow city when it comes to ticket sales was holding us back from attracting the major acts.
But according to promoters and industry experts, it’s a simple case of economics, brought about by a lack of suitable venues to meet the needs of the world’s top artists.
Adelaide festival and concert promoter Craig Lock said it made more sense for big-name performers to play two-to-three large stadium shows on the east coast rather than several smaller gigs in Adelaide.
“You can play twice in Melbourne, twice in Sydney, once in Brisbane, sell 200,000 tickets in a week-and-a-half and not have to move the show, which saves money. And when you’re at that level, you know people will travel,” said Mr Lock, director at Five Four Entertainment.
“It just makes more financial sense not to come to Adelaide. We’re just not as big as those markets. If they come here, they’ll sell less tickets and cost them money and time.”
Taylor Swift has previously taken to the stage in Adelaide, most recently playing two sold-out shows at the Entertainment Centre in 2015.
But in February this year, the Grammy award-winning singer sold an incredible 570,000 tickets as she performed seven stadium concerts in Melbourne and Sydney as part of her Eras Tour.
Australian promoter Christo Van Egmond, managing director of TEG Van Egmond, said growing production costs and the weak Australian dollar had made smaller shows less attractive.
“Fundamentally it’s an issue of economics,” he said.
“There is great demand (for shows) and Adelaide is a great audience but sometimes the economics of making that trip over is challenging, to make the finances work on a budget.”
Music SA chief executive Christine Schloithe agreed that the “exorbitant” costs of touring, from staging big budget shows and travelling logistics, kept artists from performing in Adelaide.
“Music touring has changed since a decade ago, it’s very different,” she said.
“There are big bills with lots of moving parts. It’s an incredibly expensive business.”
Currently, Adelaide Oval is SA’s largest concert venue and has played host to several huge shows since its redevelopment.
These include British singer Adele (70,000) in March 2017, The Rolling Stones (54,000) in October 2014, Pink (59,000) in February 2024, and two Ed Sheeran gigs of about 60,000 fans each.
Heavy metal legends Metallica are also booked to play on the hallowed turf next year.
But scheduling concerts at the Oval can be problematic, with cricket taking precedence during the summer and footy the focus during the winter. Weather can also impact shows at the stadium.
The Adelaide Entertainment Centre maxes out at about 11,300 people, while outdoor Coopers Stadium has a capacity of up to 26,000.
Music experts agree there’s a need for a new purpose-built, indoor arena.
“More world-class venues, especially those that fill gaps in the market, create more opportunities and open doors to a wider range of touring acts,” said Alex Klos, chief operating officer of Live Nation Australia and NZ.
Top Australian promoter Paul Dainty helped organise the meeting between Perry and Mr Malinaukas at the MCG in September. He said there was “no question” a new 15,000-seat indoor venue would help attract major acts.
“They are expensive beasts to build but... it could be a gamechanger for Adelaide,” he said.
Mr Van Egmond said a larger, specialty stadium would make SA a “really attractive and viable touring market”.
“It’d be a great next step. The sooner that it can happen the better,” he said.
Independent MP Frank Pangallo said a new indoor entertainment complex would provide a boon for the local economy.
“Not everyone can travel interstate to see their favourite acts. We need a bigger venue, not just for entertainment but for other sports like basketball,” he said.
“It will certainly benefit the state in the long run.”
The former Liberal government in 2021 had promised a new 15,000-seat indoor arena to replace the entertainment centre, if it was re-elected. It was expected to cost $700m.
Mr Pangallo said he believed a similar venue would cost at most $550m and could be built in an inner-city suburb like Hindmarsh.
“It’s something that has to be considered in the long-term, otherwise we’re just burying our heads in the sand,” he said.
But Mr Lock said whatever the final cost, it would be a “hell of a big investment” to build a stadium that might attract 3-4 big concerts that Adelaide is missing out on each year.
“Is that a good investment? Maybe not, I don’t know,” he said.
Part of the team behind events such as Spin Off Festival and smaller venues such as Hindley Street Music Hall, Mr Lock said it’s critical that industry, and the State Government, engage with music promoters directly to make it as “financially lucrative as possible” to play here.
“We’ve got to incentivise. We need to talk to them and say, ‘What can we do?’ That’s the only way that it’ll happen,” he said.
“Pink is so popular in Australia that she tours everywhere but we have to make it more appealing for the artist and the promoter, to make it worth their time to come to Adelaide. Katy Perry is the exception to the rule.”
Mr Pangallo said the government’s major events focus should shift towards entertainment.
“Why not offer incentives to tour Adelaide? Why shouldn’t we be in the market to bring these acts to SA? The international exposure it would provide for the state would be enormous,” he said.
Mr Klos said Live Nation would welcome the opportunity to work with the government to “bring the world’s biggest acts to the State and generate jobs and returns for the local economy”.
“Government incentives and support can also help bridge the financial gap and make Adelaide a must-stop destination,” he said.
Venue hire subsidies is one lever that could be pulled to offset the financial risk for promoters, Ms Schloithe said.
But strategic decision making was needed to ensure the ongoing health of SA’s music industry.
“Policies which look at the challenges of touring larger acts, the pressures on the smaller, grassroots venues... we need to take the broader perspective and invest in the longer-term,” she said.
The government can “grease the wheels” but Adelaide needs to be seen as a market that cares about music artists, both big and small, Mr Lock said.
“On a global level, we’re just going okay – we’re not seen as a must-play city. It’s going to be a long time before we change that perception,” he said.
“People just need to go to concerts and not lament the acts that we don’t have.”
A government spokesman said that bigger acts played larger venues interstate to minimise costs.
“We have spoken to many of Australia’s biggest promoters and capacity has never been raised as an issue,” the spokesman said.
“Katy Perry’s four sold out shows in Adelaide are a potent demonstration to promoters that Adelaide has both the demand and capacity to host big shows.”
The spokesman added that the government has a “well-developed strategy of attracting and retaining significant major events” to boost tourism and spend in the local economy.
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