Down Under: Troye Sivan, Strip-Searches, Wondergarden & more

Troye Sivan is returning to his home territory of Australia for his first headline tour since 2016. “The Bloom Tour” began September 2018, taking in North America, Europe and Asia. Sivan also did Lollapalooza shows in Argentina, Chile and Brazil. 

In early June he teamed with Charli XCX, co-headlining and co-hosting the inaugural Go West Fest in Los Angeles celebrating Pride week.

Live Nation begins the trek in New Zealand at Spark Arena, Auckland (Sept. 13) before it heads to Perth, where Sivan grew up, to play HBF Stadium Sept. 16. He follows up with Adelaide Entertainment Centre (18), Hordern Pavilion, Sydney (20), Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (23) and rounds off at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne (25). 

In Australian interviews conducted around the tour announcement, the 24-year LGBTI+ activist claimed he had been groomed for sexual abuse by a prospective manager in his teens when trying to launch his music career and spoke about a rumor the he was secretly straight.

The NSW police force has admitted officers are breaching their powers to conduct strip-searches at music festivals and are not properly informing people they are performing a search, the Sydney Morning Herald reported June 23. 

It cited an internal report from the force’s Lessons Learned Unit (LLU) which found there was no clear definition of “strip search” and that officers had applied different interpretations at different festivals.

The document, used for training and education, pointed out “the removal of one piece of clothing constitutes a strip-search” and that a positive response from a sniffer dog was not enough to conduct a strip search. 

The live sector has long accused police of illegal searches and campaigned to stop use of detection dogs. Legal associations have pushed for a clarification of the law.

The report warned that the near-50% rise in searches between 2014-15 and 2017-18 led to a greater risk of complaints and lawsuits. 

Last year a court awarded a man A$112,000 (US$77, 594) for being illegally strip searched. In March 2019, police said they were conducting an internal review after 19-year old female punter at the March 2 Hidden Music Festival, Lucy Moore, complained on social media and an official complaint to the force that she had been mistakenly tagged by a dog, and despite no drugs being found on her person, strip-searched by male officers, interrogated for an hour and banned for six months from Sydney Olympic Park where the event was held.

Wondergarden festival has been scrapped after three years. 

It was held at the 2,000-capacity Silo Park in downtown Auckland. 

Organisers posted on Instagram, “We won’t be going ahead with Wondergarden festival again this year. As wild and wondrous the party we had in 2018 (and 2016 & 2017), the obstacles in making Wondergarden a long term project have proven to be too hard for us to maneuver around, across, under or through!”

In a bid to improver accessibility and inclusivity in venues and events in Australia and New Zealand, Live Nation and Ticketmaster entered into a partnership with the organization Get Skilled Access. 

The org was co-founded by three-time Paralympic gold medalist, eight-time wheelchair tennis grand slam winner and disability advocate, Dylan Alcott. 

Through the partnership there’ll be initiatives aimed at fans with disabilities, and Ticketmaster has begun testing an enhanced online booking experience across its website and app to give fans with accessible needs more flexibility and choice when buying tickets. 

In a move to bring the issue to the wider industry Alcott and Get Skilled Access co-founder Nick Morris addressed 500 delegates at the Venue Management Association Asia-Pacific Congress, with keynotes and workshops to inspire change around accessibility at live events, and how the corporate world could better engage with the 4.5 million Australians living with disabilities.

In a joint statement Roger Field, CEO of Live Nation Australasia, and Maria O’Connor, managing director of Ticketmaster Australia and New Zealand, said: “Every fan has the right to equal access of live entertainment. We’re delighted to be working closely with Dylan Alcott and Get Skilled Access to make sure that real change happens. It is essential that the industry comes together to achieve this and now is the time for us all to find solutions.” 

Alcott called the new partnership “a game changer” in helping the wider community under disability and added, “If we can start by getting more fans with accessibility needs to events, not only we will change people’s lives through the power of live but we will improve the industry overall.”

The Sydney Opera House’s latest campaign, ‘Where Inspiration Lives,’ is aimed at children and families, focusing on the excitement they can experience at the globally renowned venue. 

In a two-year deal with national screen advertising supplier Val Morgan, 60-second promos in cinemas depict a young girl telling her wide-eyed little brother about her recent visit to the SOH when they are magically transported to the real thing, where they explode under the iconic sails and meet characters like Spot the Dog, One the Bear, Beep, and dinosaurs, from the SOH’s past and future programs. 

Venue director of programming, Fiona Winning said: “This campaign beautifully captures the wonder and magic of a child’s imagination. “It’s that very same sense of wonder, awe and magic that we seek to create when people visit the Opera House.”