Australia News: Australian Open, Butterfly Effect, Will.i.am & More

Six international and 23 Australian acts will play at the Australian Open 2020 in Melbourne.  

This year’s tennis championships drew 796,435 spectators and the 2020 event is set to encompass an enlarged site. 

Playing between Jan. 19 to Feb. 2, names released so far include the UK’s Example, Billy Idol and Bastille, Max Frost from the U.S. and The Broods from New Zealand, along with high profile Aussies including The Veronicas, Grinspoon, Kate Miller-Heidke, Jessica Mauboy, Cub Sort, Eskimo Joe, Matt Corby and Hayden James.

The entertainment was booked through Mushroom Events. CEO Michael Gudinski said, “After the unprecedented success of the 2019 AO Live Stage and the amazing growth of the Australian Open, the music component at the AO has cemented itself as a must play summer concert date. Attractive to International artists plus the vast array of great Australian, established and up & coming talent, the diversity of the line-up over the two-week period means there is absolutely something for everyone.” 

New World Artists (NWA) signed major hard rock band The Butterfly Effect to a deal that includes Australia, New Zealand and Asia. 

The deal with NWA, announced Nov. 18, is its first agency link-up in a decade.

Agency director Owen Orford told Pollstar the band will relaunch on the three-city Good Things festival early December and then “regroup to plan a broader touring strategy here and abroad.” 

The initial plan is to hit regional areas. “They built loyal fan bases in Australian regional towns from years of touring the early albums. So they are long overdue to return and that will be massive. Proximate territories like New Zealand, Indonesia and India are also likely. NWA is very excited to develop these growing markets for our latest clients The Butterfly Effect.”

Adelaide Festival Centre’s Walk of Fame announced four new names in recognition of performances and hit shows presented at its venues in 2018. 

They join 130 names who graced the stages of Adelaide Festival Centre since it opened in 1973.

Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am was met by five federal cops at Sydney airport Nov. 16 after the Qantas flight from Brisbane with the RNB Fridays Live entourage arrived in Sydney. 

Via Twitter he blamed an attendant for the incident, describing her as “overly aggressive” and “beyond rude”. He added, “I don’t want to believe she (is) racist. But she has clearly aimed all her frustrations only at the people of color.”

The police let the musician leave after testimony from other passengers which corroborated his claims. Qantas called it “a misunderstanding” due to the musician not hearing crew instructions as he was wearing noise cancelling headphones.  

RNB Fridays Live, with Janet Jackson and 50 Cent, took place that night at Giant Stadium. A subsequent report in the Brisbane Courier Mail had pop duo The Veronicas tweeting allegations the same attendant was involved in September on a Sydney-to-Brisbane run when they were escorted off the flight by federal police after an incident regarding an overhead baggage. Qantas has refuted the same attendant was involved.

Auckland singer songwriter Benee (Stella Bennett) took out four wins at the Nov. 15 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards at Auckland’s Spark Arena.  

The 19 year old scooped single of the year for “Soaked” and the solo, breakthrough and pop artist categories. 

Auckland-hailed The Beths went home with best group and best alternative artists. 

Avantdale Bowling Club, the new project of jazz-tinged hip hop MC Tom Scott won best album for its self-titled debut and best hip-hop artist. 

Troy Kingi was another dual winner, for best roots artist and Maori artist. 

Six60, the first NZ act to sell out the 50,000-capacity Western Springs Stadium (twice), won the people’s choice as they currently play through Europe.

Icehouse will headline Crowd Surf, a new festival on Bribie Island, off the tropical Queensland coast.  

A joint venture by Regional Touring and Sandstone Point Hotel, it stages May 9 with Pete Murray, The Black Sorrows With Vika & Linda Bull, Diesel, Busby Marou, Emily Wurramurra and Tim Freedman. 

There’s also a classic car show with models from the ‘50s to the ‘70s, which promoter Duane McDonald says “recollects the days when such cars would line up for the ferry to he island, the only way to get there before the bridge was built.”