Australia News: Foo Fighters, Always Alive; Mushroom Launches Management Co.; Cedar Mill Expands

Foo Fighters fly into Melbourne from the United States for a one-off show March 4 to launch a new showcase initiative called Always Live.

It was one of the projects Frontier Touring head Michael Gudinski was working on with Victoria’s state government at the time of his March 2021 death to promote live music, tourism and jobs.

Foo Fighters will play to a capped 25,000 crowd at the GMHBA Stadium in Geelong, a 45-minute drive from Melbourne.

To deter scalpers, it has been declared “a major event,” which means resales at over 10% face value lead to fines of up to A$109,044 ($78,260) for an individual and A$545,220 ($391,385) for a company.

“Always Live was a passion project for my dad to ensure Victoria continued to be recognized as the music capital of Australia, and Melbourne as one of the leading music cities in the world,” said Matt Gudinski, chair of the project and CEO of Mushroom Group.

Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski has launched talent management division Mushroom Management. He oversees the division and named staffer Sarah Donelly managing director.

“Nurturing and developing talent is the backbone of the entire Mushroom Group, so this is a very natural evolution for us,” he said.

The division hit the road with 50 artists and producers, including Bliss n Eso (whom Gudinski managed as a teenager), The Living End, Tkay Maidza and Big Twisty.

Cedar Mill Group, which is working on entertainment precincts in regional New South Wales, unveiled a new executive team as it plans more moves in Australia and into New Zealand.

COO Kyle McKendry is upped to CEO while still heading tour logistics company Humm Events which it acquired last year.

Live Nation Australasia’s former head of tour accounting Ewen Craig joins as director of commercial operations.

Major events consultant Paul Corcoran is director of risk management, and Andrew McKinnon is national operations manager.

Joining Humm Events as event director is Mark “Trogg” Svendsen, with a 30-year background in theatre, stage and live music production, and David Fortescue – who worked at TEG Live, TEG Dainty and Qudos Bank Arena Sydney –  is new project manager.

Cedar Mill Lake Macquarie, a $235 million ($168.7 million) redevelopment of a golf course, includes a 30,000-seat concert venue and Australia’s largest aquatic play park.

Cedar Mill Hunter Valley, which is set to open in 2023 at a cost of $107 million ($76.8 million), is in NSW’s wine region.

Both will book international entertainment superstars.