Australasia News: Cold Chisel At 50; Ticketek Breach; Roundhouse Series; Kelis Keynote; NZ: Beths Win At Aotearoa Awards

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COLD CHISEL: Australia’s biggest band, Cold Chisel, led by singer Jimmy Barnes, are heading to another strong attendance with their October/November run to celebrate their 50th anniversary since forming in Adelaide.

AUSTRALIA


Out Of Box Sprint For Cold Chisel’s 50th

“The Big Five-O” Tour in October and November, marking the 50th anniversary of the formation of Australian band Cold Chisel, had a strong sprint out of the box.

More than 130,000 tickets for the tour’s original 11 shows were scooped up in minutes. The addition of six further dates brought the tally to 200,000 tickets sold.

The band only has a limited window for the tour, or it would have been able to match its “Light The Nitro Tour” in 2011, which shifted 325,000 tickets and is biggest ever tour by an Australian-based band.

Their “Blood Moon Tour” in the summer of 2020 played to 160,000.

The 2024 shows at Moore Park in Sydney, Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, and Victoria Park stage in Brisbane took place under circus tops.

The shows harken back to their “An Evening With The Circus Animals” shows in 1982, with trapeze artists, ballerinas, dancing elephants, lion tamers, horses and tigers.

It ended with singer Jimmy Barnes above the crowd on a tightwire motorbike singing and drinking vodka.

Two Sydney shows were filmed April 17 and 18. But the footage has disappeared, and Chisel have offered a A$10,000 ($6,657) reward for it.

Ticketek Australia Data Breached

The TEG-owned Ticketek Australia advised “thousands” of its customers May 31 their names, birth dates and email addresses may have been accessed in a cyber security breach.

The data was stored in a cloud-based platform hosted by a “reputable, global third-party supplier.”

Advising that it is working with the National Office of Cyber Security, the company said that customer passwords and payment details were securely encrypted and not compromised.

“Since our third party supplier brought this to our attention, over the past few days we have worked diligently to put every resource into completing an investigation so that we can communicate with customers who may have been impacted, and other stakeholders, as quickly as possible.”

According to Ticketek’s website, it has 1.9 million monthly users and annual ticket sales of
20 million.

It is not believed the latest incident is tied up with the Ticketmaster breach, confirmed by parent Live Nation last week, which the Federal Department of Home Affairs is investigating.

Roundhouse Concert Series In Gardens

Roundhouse Entertainment, the Mushroom Group division behind the long-running success of the A Day On The Green winery series, is launching Live At The Gardens in November.

It will first stage over two weekends at the iconic Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, with a follow up in March.

Roundhouse Entertainment director Michael Newton said: “It’s a one-of-a-kind music festival, creating an experience that celebrates music, nature and community.” A Day On The Green is entering its 24th season this year, with 530 shows and 4 million patrons.

Kelis Keynoting At BIGSOUND

R&B singer Kelis is keynoting at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND conference and showcase in September. She also headlines an exclusive set at QLD Music Trails’ Sweet Relief! festival.

Others participants from the live sector include Amy Taylor of Amyl & The Sniffers; Adam Ryan, The Great Escape / Festival Republic; Ben Buchanan, Creative Artists Agency; Dev Sherlock, SXSW; Elliott Lefko, AEG / Goldenvoice; Naomie Abergel, Sound.xyz; Patrick Daniel, Reeperbahn; and Roxane Dumoulin of ATC Live.

NEW ZEALAND

The Beths Win Two At NZ Aotearoa Awards

Indie pop duo The Beths, just back from an extensive global tour, won best group and best album for Expert In A Dying Field at the New Zealand Aotearoa Awards May 30 at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.

Other winners included Marlon Williams (solo), Avantdale Bowling Club (single), SIX60 (highest selling), Georgia Lines (pop), Aaradhna (soul/R&B), Racing (rock) and Tawaz (Maori artist).