Sheeran going to safer bets
Ed Sheeran’s promoter Michael Gudinski says skipping Wellington and Christchurch for concerts was an easy decision.
Sheeran will play three shows in Auckland, and three in Dunedin, avoiding New Zealand’s second and third biggest cities, and Frontier Touring boss Gudinski says the decision was ‘‘pretty obvious, really’’.
Gudinski, 64, who has toured acts such as Leonard Cohen, Justin Bieber and Green Day to New Zealand, said Wellington and Christchurch’s venues just didn’t hold up.
He said performing in Wellington wasn’t an option for most major acts because setting up at Westpac Stadium could prove problematic. ‘‘There was never a chance we were playing in Wellington.’’
Gudinski added: ‘‘To be honest with you, I’m a big fan of playing rugby pitches, it sounds better, it works better. In Wellington, it’s just . . . I’ve done one show at the Cake Tin. It’s a great sporting venue, but . . . ’’
Westpac Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon said a larger indoor arena in the Wellington region would be better for the capital.
‘‘We would see more acts coming through with a larger arena,’’ he said.
The risk of poor weather made playing stadium shows in the south an issue, Gudinski said, which made the roof at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium an attractive proposition.
He said he loved Christchurch and had taken Bruce Springsteen there but Dunedin was a safer bet. Despite having a smaller population, Gudinski said Kiwis were willing to travel for acts like Sheeran which meant they didn’t need to perform in the cities.