Australasia News: SXSW Sydney, ASM Global Names Marketing Director, TodayTix Expands; NZ: Bob Marley Concert Documentary

AUSTRALIA

SXSW Sydney Unveils Acts, Speakers

The inaugural SXSW Sydney unveiled the first round of acts and speakers for the Oct. 15-22 event in the CBD and surrounding Haymarket, Darling Harbor, Ultimo and Chippendale areas.

Venues include ICC Sydney, live music spots the Lansdowne and the Abercrombie, Powerhouse Museum, University of Technology Sydney, parks and boats on Sydney Harbor.

First acts are Nigerian British songwriter Connie Constance, Canadian new wave EKKSTACY, London-based Los Bitchos, Japanese punks Otoboke Beaver and U.S. rapper-producer redveil.

More than 600 speakers cover tech and innovation, gaming, music, screen and culture, with U.S. futurist Amy Webb named first keynote speaker.

It is backed by the NSW government to spotlight Sydney “as the major events and creative industries capital of the Asia Pacific,” said minister for tourism and the arts Ben Franklin.

ASM Global AP Appoints Director Of Marketing

Harvey Lister, chairman and chief executive of ASM Global Asia Pacific, announced Beverly Parker, an Australian convention specialist and marketer of 30 years, as the company’s director of marketing.

Parker combines her new role with her current position as director of business development at ICC Sydney, effective March 1.

She replaces Rochelle Uechtritz, who spent 29 years at venues around the world.

TodayTix Expands Down Under

Global theatre ticketing app TodayTix expanded its Australian presence, bowing in Perth and marking the occasion offering A$30 ($20.70) tickets to “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” via a digital lottery.

It has been sourcing tickets for patrons in Melbourne and Sydney since 2019 and in Brisbane from 2022.

Accor Stadium’s Summer Concerts Hit 400K

Sydney’s 82,500-capacity Accor Stadium expects its summer headline events to reach 400,000 patrons.

These included 110,000 for Red Hot Chili Peppers with Post Malone Feb. 2 and 4; more than 180,000 for Ed Sheeran Feb. 24-25; and similar numbers for Harry Styles March 3-4.

It follows up with major sports events, including five key matches of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which FIFA says sold 500,000 tickets for the season in Australia and New Zealand.

NEW ZEALAND

Docu Series On Impact Of Bob Marley Concert

A six-part documentary series, “When Bob Came,” screening on New Zealand’s TVNZ, looks back at the seismic effect on music and politics of Bob Marley’s only New Zealand concert.

The show with his band The Wailers was on April 16, 1979, at Auckland’s 50,000-capacity Western Springs Stadium during rainstorms.

It triggered a massive love for reggae. It coincided with an era of activism by the indigenous Maori community, which saw a similarity in the way Jamaicans faced defending their languages, rights and identities.

His “unapologetic freedom of thought,” explained producer and director Angela Cudd, led to his transcending his status as musician into an icon affectionately referred to as “Uncle Bob” and whose Legend is NZ’s third-best-selling album.