Queen attracts singing royalty

PROMOTERS for the biggest rock acts in the world are eyeing the Gold Coast thanks to next week’s blockbuster Queen show at Metricon Stadium, entertainment guru Tony Cochrane says.

Mr Cochrane, the chairman of the Gold Coast Suns, which leases and operates the stadium, said just 200 tickets remained for the Queen Bohemian Rhapsody show on February 29.

“We went really hard after Queen because we could see that was going to be the style of show that would convince every promoter in the world to consider the Gold Coast as a viable venue,” he said.

“We are a week out and we will hit very close to 40,000 total tickets. There are only a few hundred tickets left.”

Mr Cochrane said the work to bring Queen, playing with Adam Lambert, to the Gold Coast started four years ago.

“We struck a deal with Paul Dainty to bring Queen here. They were seriously considering Townsville as an option to open the new stadium there.

“I think we put on a compelling case that if you made it a Saturday night we thought we could get to 30,000 tickets for sure here at Metricon because it is such a fantastic facility and we have exceeded that number.”

The last rock act to play at Metricon was the Foo Fighters, which attracted 37,000 fans in December 2011.

Mr Cochrane said the key to the Queen coup was striking a new deal with Stadiums Queensland.

“We stood up to Stadiums Queensland and demanded a fairer deal that would put us at least into a position where we could attract big events, whether they be sport or entertainment,’’ he said.

“That was a long road with a lot of help from (minister for sport) Mick de Brenni and we finally have our relationship now with Stadiums Queensland on a good level.

“The Gold Coast Suns control the stadium 365 days of the year. Our long-term strategy is to make this a really strong, viable venue for all big events that come to the Gold Coast, whether sport or entertainment.”

The Queen concert is expected to inject about $7 million into the Gold Coast economy, with ratepayers to chip in a maximum of $250,000.

Mr Cochrane praised Mayor Tom Tate’s role in the process. “He understood from the first meeting the important role the council could play helping us underwrite some of the cost structure so the Gold Coast could be considered on these big national tours,” he said.

Doors open at 5pm for the Queen show.

QUEEN … WOULD CONVINCE EVERY PROMOTER IN THE WORLD TO CONSIDER THE GOLD COAST AS A VENUE.

TONY COCHRANE