Baptism Of Fire For NZ Stadium

Dunedin Venues Management, operators of the new NZ$200 million, 70,000-capacity Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, has gotten off to a bad start with Australia’s Frontier Touring Company.

The stadium, the country’s biggest indoor venue, turned down a Meat Loaf show in October because it had agreed Elton John would be its first concert. The show had to move to a 5,000-capacity venue, causing Frontier to lose money, according to media reports.

Frontier then suggested a Wednesday night Rod Stewart date before his sold-out Feb. 25 Mission Winery concert in Napier.

The promoter asked for venue fees to be waived.

Frontier managing director Michael Gudinski told Pollstar, “We took a risk in booking Rod there mid-week, and considering what happened with Meat Loaf we thought they’d go out of their way to make this happen.

“They should be working with the local council and tourism to get big names there. After two bad experiences, dealing with them has left a bitter taste in my mouth.”

Dunedin Venues CEO David Davies said he was unaware of a problem, and invited Gudinski to contact him to resolve the issue.