Australia: Donavon Frankenreiter, Rodriguez, Kiwiburn, Global Cities After Dark

The first international names were announced for the second Global Cities After Dark forum, held Sydney Nov. 12-13. 

They included Amsterdam night mayor Mirik Milan (who is co-producing the event), city of Detroit night time economy ambassador Adrian Tonon, LA’s pansexual party A Club Called Rhonda co-founder Loren Granich, City of Sydney lord mayor Clover Moore and London’s Boiler Room and She Said So community manager Amanda Maxwell.

A keynote will be an update from Sydney’s new 15-strong nightlife and creative advisory panel. Made up of venue operators, festival promoters, DJs, restaurant operators and public policy officials, it was set up in the wake of last year’s meet. The 2017 outcomes report was released early August and downloaded at globalcitiesafterdark.com.

Live Nation has surf-balladeer Donavon Frankenreiter for five clubs and a festival Nov. 20-25. He was last in Australia for Bluesfest in 2015.

Frontier Touring returns Rodriguez for 10 dates in Australia and New Zealand Feb. 2 to March 1 Half are theatres with singer songwriter Sarah Blasko, and five wineries with Xavier Rudd, Busby Marou, Pierce Brothers and Alice Skye.

Frontier and Arena Touring have Dionne Warwick at five Australian and two New Zealand theatres Nov. 2-11.

Toto and NZ band Dragon play four outdoor shows around New Zealand Jan. 9-13.

What was to be a star-studded celebration in March of Bob Dylan’s 77th birthday was canceled due to illness. However with Dylan touring the region this month, the idea has been revived as A Warm-Up for Bob on Aug. 18, a week before the bard’s Auckland show. In Sydney, Chugg Entertainment added a second show Aug. 19 at the Enmore Theatre.

After a tender process, the iconic 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) has extended its ticketing deal with Ticketek. 

The MCG draws 1.3 million sports and entertainment patrons a year. 

Under the new agreement, Ticketek and its parent company TEG will seek to attract a new major events to the venue, along with a commitment to ensure increases to ticket transaction fees and charges remain within annual CPI growth.

Evie Amati, former drummer with Sydney band Everything I Own Is Broken, was found guilty of intent to murder by a NSW District Court jury after two days of deliberation. 

Amati will be sentenced in September.  

On Jan. 7, 2017, at 2 a.m., she allegedly walked 450 metres from her home in the suburb of Enmore to the corner 7-Eleven convenience store, playing the song “Flatline” by U.S. metal band Periphery before attacking two customers with an axe, leaving them with severe head wounds. 

The musician claimed her body had made the attacks but not her mind, saying she was “mentally deranged” from various substances during the attack.

The 2019 edition of Kiwiburn, a rural New Zealand festival inspired by the U.S.’ Burning Man’ collective approach, was canceled Aug. 6 after negotiations with local council over a 10-year plan broke down over noise restrictions. 

Promoters said that discussions will continue and hope to stage 2020.

Promoters thought it “unwise to rush this process, meaning agreeing to Council noise conditions which are not achievable would massively change the nature of Kiwiburn.” It was set up in 2003 by Mark Stirling, first as part of the Visionz festival and then became a stand-alone two years later, a sellout each January. 

The burning of the Kiwiburn effigy is used by the local fire service for training purposes.