Australia: Perth Arena, Colleen Green

Indoor Stadium Proposed for Wellington

A meeting of the regional mayors of New Zealand’s second biggest city, Wellington, has enlisted the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency to carry out a feasibility study to set up a 10,000-capacity stadium in the city.

It will compete to draw events and international entertainers, who currently book into Auckland’s 12,000-seat Spark Arena and Christchurch’s 8,800-seat Horncastle Arena.

Currently, the city’s largest entertainment venue is the 5,600-capacity TSB Bank Arena on the waterfront. Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said that NZ$60 million ($43 million) of the estimated cost of between NZ$130 million ($93.2 million) and NZ$180 million ($120.1 million) has already set aside in Wellington City Council’s Long-Term Plan. Private investors and other councils in the Wellington area are expected to make up the difference.

Perth Arena To Replace 210 Windows

Concert and sporting venue Perth Arena will have to replace 210 of its windows after it was revealed the glass panels were faulty and at risk of shattering and falling.

The 15,000-capacity building, owned by VenuesWest and operated by AEG Ogden, opened in November 2012 at a cost of A$548.7 million ($516 million) VenuesWest insisted there was no risk to visitors, but has taken the precaution of closing off some arenas and a bike path at the back of the venue, according to a report in PerthNow.

The report quoted VenuesWest chief executive David Etherton as saying that investigations began after a glass panel broke in late 2016 but stayed in the frame. The problem was identified as a manufacturing issue. “Whilst it is unlikely that more windows will break and even less likely that they will fall, safety is always our priority, so the most effective way to ensure public safety in the long term is to take remedial action by removing and replacing the panels,” Etherton said.

A tender process has begun to get the 210 panels replaced. Upcoming dates on the books at Perth Arena include Alice Cooper, Midnight Oil, Fifth Harmony, and Take That.

U.S. Musician Colleen Green Deported 

Steele O’neal via Facebook – Colleen Green

A low-key visit by Los Angeles singer-songwriter Perth Arena Sept. 1-10 of five cities was canceled when she was stopped at border control in Melbourne and deported.

Green arrived on a tourist visa but suspicious officials checked her luggage to find merchandise and then checked her website for tour dates, according to the Sydney Morning Herald,

Tour promoter Bone Soup admitted it was “deeply embarrassed” about failing to arrange the right visa, and “we have made a mistake that we will never make again.”

Green described her Australian experience on Facebook as “emotional, exhausting, and tumultuous.”