Australasia News: Attendance Boom At Major Venues; ULTRA’s Back; Travis Scott Draws Noise Complaints

AUSTRALIA

Attendance Boom For Major Venues 

Official reports in New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA) showed that their major venues are going through an events boom.

Venues NSW revealed Oct. 28 more than 400,000 attended live entertainment and sports in a fortnight period in Sydney, generating A$60 million ($39.5 million).

The second of two Travis Scott shows at Allianz Stadium set a new attendance mark for the stadium of 41,814, toppling P!NK’s record in February 2024.

The Weeknd, moving to stadiums returning after seven years, had 130,000 at Accor Stadium. Olivia Rodrigo’s debut tour had 70,000 at Qudos Bank Arena.

K-pop superstars Stray Kids, who sold out four arenas in Melbourne and Sydney February 2023, returned to stadiums on the “< dominATE >” tour. The Oct. 27 stop at Allianz Stadium and the Spring Champion Stakes Day at Royal Randwick drew a combined 50,000.

Following will be Coldplay’s four “Music of The Spheres” sell-outs Nov. 6-10 at Accor Stadium. These were preceded by four Melbourne Marvel Stadium dates, which the venue said set a new attendance record with a total 227,000, replacing the one set by AC/DC.

The Melbourne shows were marked by bassist Guy Berryman canceling from illness, “Karate Kid” actor Ralph Macchio joining them onstage to shoot footage for the video of Coldplay’s theme song for “Karate Kid: Legends,” and Chris Martin falling down a trapdoor while walking backstage talking to the crowd.

Events bankrolled by the Western Australian government primarily to generate tourism and jobs created an extra A$286 million ($188.5 million) to the state economy.

Many were held in VenuesWest venues including the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium, the 16,500-capacity RAC Arena and  20,500-capacity Perth Rectangular Stadium.

Tourism minister Rita Saffioti noted the ability of the venues “to hold massive crowd numbers and deliver an event experience often results in events returning to Perth time and time again.”

More than a third of the economic impact was generated by three blockbusters. For a reported fee of $8 million ($5.27 million) Coldplay diverted from its Asian tour November 2023 to play two shows at Optus Stadium to 140,000 and generated $43.3 million ($28.5 million). The other two were WWE’s Elimination Chamber (A$36.2 million/$ 23.8 million), and FIFA Women’s World Cup matches (A$25.3 million/ $16.6 million).

The WA government currently has 25 major events secured for the 2024-25 financial year, supported by its A$77.5 million ($51 million) events budget.

ULTRA Returning For Sixth Year

Following a new IMS Business Report confirming Australia as third largest EDM market, ULTRA is returning for the sixth time. Plans are to reach 45,000 over two shows, after a sell-out of 40,000 this year.

 In 2025, ULTRA Beach Gold Coast stages at Broadwater Parklands April 11 and ULTRA Australia in Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse April 12.

The Phase 1 lineup includes superstars Martin Garrix and Axwell, UK’s Carl Cox, hardstylists Da Tweekaz (Norway), Sub Zero Project (Netherlands), Italian techno act Deborah De Luca and USA’s Knock2 on his Aussie debut.

ULTRA’s million-dollar production and A1 list bill created two rising effects. “We’re seeing a new demographic,” project manager Travis Grech said. “Plus we’re seeing an ever-growing amount of overseas audience members.”

NEW ZEALAND

Travis Scott Gets 21 Complaints For Eden Park

The City of Auckland received 21 noise complaints about Travis Scott’s first NZ show before a sellout 50,000 crowd.

One claimed her house 1.5 km away was shaking. Others called it the loudest concert they had heard in decades.

Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner said advice from independent acoustic consultants who monitored the sound said the concert had not breached conditions.

The venue is currently applying to hold up to 12 concerts a year, from its current six.