Impact International: Australia/New Zealand 2025 Impact Honorees

This is our way of shining a light on one of the healthiest live sectors in the world—in addition to our weekly coverage on this thriving and dynamic market.

The choice of 10 outstanding individuals (as well as five Aus/NZ NextGen honorees) is not only based on Pollstar Boxoffice data. It is about those who led with innovation and technology towards heightening excellence and fan engagement and experiences.

These honorees have a shared commitment of uplifting an entire sector and tirelessly work worth trade associations and lobbying groups to give it a voice, especially with government and corporate influencers. They also have a strong sense of social justice to make the industry a fairer and better place to work in.

Harvey Lister
Chairman & Chief Executive
Legends ASM Global, APAC & MENA

At the end of a successful 12 months, Brisbane-based Harvey Lister was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame July 24. He was one of six lauded for outstanding economic and cultural contributions to the state. The honor follows his being made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2021 for his 50-year-plus contribution to entertainment.

Part of the HoF acclaim was that Lister kept Brisbane as the company’s HQ as it expanded globally. Of its Brisbane venues, the Suncorp Stadium and Brisbane Entertainment Centre together generated over $70 million in box office and ticket sales of 727,885, according to Pollstar’s ANZ charts.

In June, the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre celebrated its 30th anniversary, announcing that its 6 million attendees to 26,082 events had created AUD$6.26 billion (USD$4.05 billion) in economic impact for Queensland.

“I’ve been lucky to spend a lifetime in this industry, and it’s still the people, the partnerships, and the power of live events that inspire me every day,” Lister remarked at the HoF induction. “We often say that events change lives — and I believe that now more than ever. Whether it is a concert, a sporting match, a community gathering, or a medical conference, these moments bring us together in ways that matter deeply. That’s the magic of what we do.”

Lister’s career in live started in the early ’70s when stints in shopping centres and radio in PR gave him contacts in the live music industry. Artist manager Roger Davies (now helming P!NK’s career) asked him to tour his chart-topping band Sherbet in Queensland. That led to him starting a touring company in 1975 with clients including AC/DC, Stevie Wonder, Dr. Hook and Little River Band over 15 years.

In 1986, Lister founded Queensland Leisure, which operated the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, and laid the foundation of AEG Ogden, then ASM Global, and now Legends ASM Global.

Alex Klos
President
Live Nation Australia & New Zealand

Live Nation Australia and New Zealand had its strongest year to date, according to the company. Pollstar calculated that its four biggest touring acts alone – Coldplay, Pearl Jam, Travis Scott and The Weeknd – sold close to 2 million tickets and generated over $186.5 million.

Coldplay, which topped the artist tour list with 723,271 tickets and a $85,974,148 gross, broke attendance records in Melbourne and Sydney, and became the first act to play three (sold-out) shows at Eden Park in Auckland.

Under Alex Klos’ watch, the company also followed up P!NK’s “Summer Carnival” run, which featured 20 dates in Australia and New Zealand in February and March 2024, with strong performances by Olivia Rodrigo, Tate McRae, Crowded House and several Asia-pop tours last year.

2025 has delivered stadium runs by Green Day, Chris Stapleton and MAYDAY and arena dates by Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Drake.

The rest of the year sees stadium shows by Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Metallica and Oasis, and arena stops from Rüfüs Du Sol, Usher, Lil Baby, TWICE and STAYC.

The return of Harvest Rock and Spilt Milk music festivals after a year-long hiatus (with Kicks Entertainment) indicates strong ticket numbers.

With Klos’ finance background in diverse high-performance sectors before joining Live Nation as chief financial officer in 2015, the company’s growth was also attributed to his considered, collaborative and solutions-focused mindset covering concerts, venues, festivals and sponsorship.

The next moves by Live Nation Down Under include the opening in the 2026-27 summer of the 3,000–seat Perth Musical Hall. This year, LN also acquired New Zealand festival producer Team Event, behind Christchurch’s Electric Avenue, which draws 40,000 over each of two days.

Tim McGregor
Global Head of Touring
Ticketek Entertainment Group/ TEG

When Tim McGregor was promoted from GM of TEG Live to TEG’s global head of touring in August 2024, company chair Geoff Jones noted, “His in-depth industry knowledge and excellent business acumen make him the ideal choice to lead the overall concert and festival touring strategy for TEG across the globe.”

TEG is ranked second on Pollstar’s ANZ promoter list with ticket sales of over 1.6 million and a turnover of $135.5 million.

After becoming the biggest beach party ever staged in Australia with its inaugural 2024 edition, OUT 2 LUNCH returned to the Gold Coast with 30,000 over two days this May, delivering a AUD$54 million (USD$34.9 million) boost to the local economy and involving 200 businesses.

It was headlined by Gold Coast DJ Fisher, ranked No. 8 in the world by DJ Magazine, with 3 billion streams and a long-term residency in Ibiza.

TEG with Handsome Tours was behind British DJ Fred again..’s phenomenal return, for which 1 million fans tried to secure 230,000 tickets to 13 official shows.

St Jerome’s Laneway festival, in which TEG took a majority stake in 2021, had the best numbers of its 20-year history, with 200,000 over six cities.

Keith Urban made a high-profile welcome-home visit while The Kid Laroi moved up to stadiums.

Melbourne-born DJ and producer Dom Dolla jumped into stadiums last December and sold 35,000 at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium. His last tour was the biggest by an electronic act with 170,000 tickets sold across four cities.

AC/DC’s return after 10 years for Australia “Power Up” dates in November and December (promoted by TEG Van Egmond and TEG Live) sold 320,000 tickets on the first day of sale. Will “Power Up” match the 520,000 local sales of 2015’s “Rock or Bust” or the 650,000 of 2009’s “Black Ice?”

Chris O’Brien
GM
Destroy All Line

Before joining Destroy All Lines in 2016, Chris O’Brien ran punk clubs, a record label, a booking agency and a management company.

But thinking big ticket came from O’Brien’s 20 years of serving as the GM of heavy rock Soundwave (which in 2014 drew 250,000, the largest crowd for an Australian festival), as well as the GM for the Australian edition of Vans Warped Tour and Harvest music festival.

He expanded Soundwave’s musical base, introduced comedy and country divisions, and brought in 11 promoters handling 120 tours a year.

Knotfest in March (a partnership with TEG and Slipknot) drew 90,000 and the more diversified Good Things had 100,000 over three shows.

In Pollstar’s ANZ rankings, Destroy All Lines was at No. 4 (and No.1 of the independents) with over 800,000 tickets sold and a gross of almost $70 million.

O’Brien says The Offspring had their biggest tour with over 63,000 attendees and Falling In Reverse brought in 50,000.

In February and March 2026, Destroy All Lines will, with one of Australia’s biggest hard rock exports, Parkway Drive, stage what O’Brien says is the most ambitious tour by an Aussie band.

Park Waves takes in 11 regional and metro stops under a big top, with carnival rides, sideshow alleys, circus performers and a host of big drawers including The Amity Affliction, Northlane, Alpha Wolf and Story Of The Year.

O’Brien forecasts between 100,000 to 120,000 attendees, adding, “We’re really proud of this one. It’s been a few years in the making and very costly to put on. But it’s a one-time experience.

“We’re always trying to push the boundaries and find new creative ways because audiences are finding new ways to enjoy their music,” O’Brien says.

David Etherton
CEO
VenuesWest

David Etherton arrived as CEO of VenuesWest in January 2008 with 25 years of senior executive experience in the tourism, sports and events sectors. He made some swift changes to the operations, expanding the portfolio from four to 14 venues, most notably the establishment of RAC Arena in 2012 and Optus Stadium in 2018.

This increased the asset net worth to $2.23 billion ($1.44 billion) and a draw of 6.31 million patrons. Its venues took out four of a possible five categories in the national 2023 Stadium Awards.

In mid-2025, Etherton was given a lifetime achievement award at the Asia-Pacific Venue Industry Congress in Sydney. The award acknowledged his leadership, including competitively securing the biggest sport and entertainment moments in the state’s history, including the 2021 AFL Grand Final, State of Origin and the Coldplay exclusive shows.

VenuesWest venues were among the first to adopt new tech to improve the efficiency of staff and fan experience, including Optus Stadium switching on 5G for more reliable mobile connectivity. The installation of large-scale solar arrays at Perth High Performance Centre, and electric vehicle charging stations at PHPC and Arena Joondalup were designed for a significant and ongoing reduction in VenuesWest’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Etherton was also widely praised for the association’s continued initiatives in reconciliation with First Nations people.

These initiatives included projects to increase awareness of the connection to Aboriginal culture and history, including an Indigenous Garden at HBF Stadium, and a plan to increase representation of First Nations people in the workforce.

“It is not just the delivery of world-class events, but the work done to ensure exceptional day-to-day experiences for the community at our venues that allows VenuesWest to be Australia’s leading provider of sport and entertainment venues and precincts,” Etherton stated.

Nicholas Greco
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Untitled Group

With sales of 682,058 and a gross of $61.9 million, Untitled Group continued its rise.

In this month’s Pollstar ANZ promoter rankings, the company lists at No. 5 overall and second among indies.

Founders Nicholas Greco, Filippo Palermo, Michael Christidis and Christian Serrao won the Arts & Culture category at the 2024 Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards, and were featured as part of the 2025 edition of Australia’s Top 100 Young Entrepreneurs.

“It’s been a really exciting year for us at Untitled,” Greco says. “In 2024, we sold over 630,000 tickets across 515 events, which was up from 500,000 the year before.

“Already this year, we’ve passed the 300,000 mark.”

In 2025, Untitled entered three significant partnerships that reflect its fast trajectory.

One was with Ticketmaster subsidiary Moshtix for selected events, including Wildlands festival.

But Untitled remains with Perth-based Megatix for its flagship Beyond the Valley (BTV) festival. BVT and Untitled’s Pitch Music & Arts, featured in DJ Magazine’s list of the world’s top 100 festivals for 2025.

In other partnerships, it will work with Secret Sounds co-founder Jessica Ducrou’s new touring venture Black Peach, and with creative agency Bolster to service festival and tour marketing across media, creative, content and social.

While BTV has applied to increase its site capacity from 35,000 to 50,000 – it drew an aggregated 124,000 over four days – Greco reports “really strong momentum across Wildlands, Pitch Music & Arts and Ability Fest, for which it raised $587,000 ($379,843) for sportsman with disability Dylan Alcott’s foundation.

“On the touring front, we worked on Dom Dolla’s biggest-ever Australian tour (170,000+ tickets), co-promoted Rüfüs Du Sol’s 2025 run, and brought out Christina Aguilera, Zach Bryan, Anyma, Kaytranada and John Summit,” Greco says.

Barbara Maguire
Chief Financial Officer
Bluesfest Group

Barbara Maguire is more than the financial center of Bluesfest in Byron Bay, a massive operation that employs 2,700.

A spokesperson for Bluesfest Group refers to her as “the quiet powerhouse behind one of Australia’s most resilient and respected live music brands” and praised Maguire for her “central role in stabilizing and future-proofing the business.”

Three cancellations during the pandemic and drastic crowd drops after that suggested the 2025 event, its 36th edition, would be its last.

Over the 12 months before the fest, which took place April 17-20, Maguire oversaw the festival’s financial planning and execution. Bluesfest Group noted that “her strategic thinking around budgeting and risk management allowed the team to confidently reinvest in artist development, site upgrades, and sustainability initiatives.”

This year’s four-day event brought 109,000 people to the 300-acre Byron Events Farm. It was its third highest turnout since its beginning in 1990. Sideshows in nearby cities upped the total to 115,719 and a gross of over $12.4 million. As a result, an “encore” edition was announced for 2026.

With half the festival’s crowd coming from elsewhere in Australia or overseas, the tourism drawcard injected $230 million ($148.8 million) into the NSW economy in 2024.

“What sets Barbara apart is her ability to combine financial acumen with a deep understanding of the cultural weight Bluesfest carries. She has been instrumental in broadening the festival’s reach into new markets through national touring and securing key infrastructure upgrades at the Bluesfest site in Tyagarah,” Bluesfest Group summed up. The spokesperson added: “Barbara’s excellence extends beyond spreadsheets; she’s a trusted voice in strategic decisions and an advocate for a more inclusive, financially sustainable live music industry. Her work this year not only helped deliver a sold-out festival but laid the groundwork for Bluesfest’s continued growth as both a cultural institution and business success story.”

Chris Paterson
Director & Senior Principal
Populous

Chris Paterson is based in Brisbane, home to the APAC head studio of global architectural and venue designer Populous. Its Australian and New Zealand projects have included Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, Auckland’s Eden Park redevelopment, the Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium and the Perth Major Stadium PDP.

Paterson’s approach is influenced not only by 20 years’ experience and strong project leadership, but also a love for live music, the fascinating ways it brings audiences together, and a growing interest in diversifying night-time activity in major cities.

“Australia and New Zealand are highly focused on bringing people back to the cities, creating a buzz through the streets and the laneways into the evening, and we’re using the live entertainment sector as a catalyst for this,” he says.

Marked for an April 2026 opening is the One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha in Christchurch, which Populous designed for maximum flexibility to cater for entertainment, sporting and business events of all sizes.

Costing NZ$683 million ($404 million), it has a 30,000-capacity for sports and 37,500 for concerts, and comes with special indoor turf and a fixed roof. The idea of the design, according to Paterson, is “a landmark multi-use venue (which) will make the city the cultural focal point of New Zealand’s South Island and a new global destination for entertainment.”

Construction has begun for a 2027 opening of the $309 million ($199.9 million) Penrith Stadium redevelopment in western Sydney. Populous’ design again is centered on flexible use, with up to 25,000 for sporting events and up to 30,000 for 10 major concerts each year.

Paterson and his team also worked on developments in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.

Populous’ recent accolades include Kai Tak Sports Park and The Venetian Arena winning the 2025 International Architecture & Design Awards.

Zac Leigh
CEO, Co-Founder
Tixel

After being scammed out of a Tame Impala show with a fake ticket, engineering graduate Zac Leigh teamed up with Jason Webb and Denis Mysenko to build and launch Tixel in 2018 as a secure, fair ticket marketplace.

The technology scans every listing in real time to block counterfeits and enforce a 10% price cap based on the ticket’s face value.

Last year, Tixel facilitated ticket exchanges for over 14,000 global events in Australia, Europe, the U.K. and New Zealand. The figure is set to expand as it also went into the U.S. in 2025.

 “88% of event goers are more likely to purchase a ticket early if they know that they can resell it easily down the track… and the smarter promoters will include that in their marketing. I think around 70% of tickets are sold within the week leading up to the event. People just change their minds,” Leigh says.

In its first six months, more than 150,000 Australian fans signed up.

They were followed by festivals as Woodford Folk, Beyond The Valley, NZ’s Rhythm And Vines, The Grass Is Greener, Strawberry Fields and Grapevine Gathering, promoters including Unified Music Group, The Corner Hotel, Handsome Tours and Astral People and artists as Tones And I, Rüfüs Du Sol, Tash Sultana, The Teskey Brothers and Missy Higgins.

In 2021, Leigh steered the brand into the U.K. and Europe after raising $1.5 million ($970,652) from local promoters.

Tixel secured a partnership with entertainment giant Superstruct UK, getting access to its festival portfolio, including Victorious, South West Four, Kendal Calling and Hideout, as well as deals with promoters, primary ticketing platforms, indie festivals and artists like Gorillaz and You Me At Six.

The entry into the United States was initially through pacts with Burning Man, Leap Event Technology and FINGRS CRSSD.

Kane Kete
Director of Artist & Promoter Relations
Ticketmaster, Asia Pacific

With the market so buoyant, Ticketmaster Asia Pacific has been busy in 2025, extending its deals with Mushroom Group, A Day On The Green promoter Roundhouse Entertainment and Crown Resorts. It struck a new one with Untitled Group (through its Moshtix subsidiary) for some venues and events, and celebrated the Australian Grand Prix Corporation hitting another record high with 465,498 spectators. This has much to do with Kane Kete’s business contacts, fierce work ethic and problem-solving skills.

Ticketmaster describes him as “a dynamic industry player behind some of the region’s most successful live music events. With over 15 years in the ticketing and promoter space, Kane has built a career grounded in deep industry knowledge, strategic thinking, and an unmatched ability to connect with artists and promoters.”

A statement from Ticketmaster adds: “Kane brings a unique blend of technical ticketing expertise and relationship-first leadership, consistently delivering high-profile tours with seamless onsales, innovative pricing strategies, and world-class fan experiences. His influence spans markets and genres, and his strategic foresight continues to shape the future of ticketing in Asia Pacific.”

A New Zealand Māori who descended from the iwi (tribe) of Ngati Maniapoto, Kete studied business advertising and event management at Auckland University.

He worked himself up the ranks at Ticketmaster, from ticketing coordinator to commercial operations coordinator, then to marketing manager of ticketing at parent company Live Nation.

He returned to Ticketmaster when it introduced the artist services manager Down Under in May 2018.

Made director of artist & promoter relations, APAC, in June 2024, Kete played a major role in the delivery of tours such as Coldplay, The Weeknd, Luke Combs, Travis Scott, Pearl Jam and Green Day.