Music man
The promoter keeping Kiwis entertained
Paul Dainty. The name might not be instantly recognisable but many Kiwis will know him by his work bringing some of the biggest names down under. The promoter – a softly spoken Brit with more than 40 years industry experience – has over the decades delivered us a plethora of acts, from the Rolling Stones in the early 1970s, to Prince earlier this year. He managed to have Katy Perry swing by on her Prismatic World Tour back in 2014 and brought US comedian Billy Crystal to our shores just this week.
‘‘Prince’s Piano and A Microphone (tour) was one of the most outstanding shows I’ve ever seen,’’ he says. ‘‘You got goose bumps watching Prince do that show.’’
His latest challenge: wooing rock gods Guns N Roses – recently reformed after years apart – to Auckland’s Western Springs . He is also working to bring Adele to Eden Park in 2017 but is coy on the details.
Raised in the small town of Waltonon-Thames in Surrey, a suburb of London, Dainty’s family was involved in the film production business. His dream and passion was always to be involved with film, since joining the workforce at 17. That was until financial trouble temporarily shut down the studio he was working for. By the time the studio recovered his mother, a ‘‘tough mum’’, had already got him working for a big music agency in London. As it happened, American musician Roy Orbison, who was signed with the agency, was on his way down to Australia for a tour. Dainty got picked to tag along. ‘‘Well, I was about the only person to put my hand up, cause it was about two or three days to get to Australia back in those days,’’ he says. ‘‘So I came down, and that started my love affair with Australia.’’ Back in the late 70s, the entire Australasia region was considered virgin territory for the music industry, according to Dainty. But while he managed to see the business opportunity that was presented, his bosses were less keen on starting a regional office on the other side of the world. So he took matters into his own hands.
‘‘A few of us who were brave and cavalier enough decided to opt out and start our own business,’’ he says. ‘‘Which is what we did.’’
Constantly commuting between the UK and Australia during the 70s and 80s saw Dainty start to make a name for himself.
But what really put him on the industry map was The Rolling Stones tour of 1973, that sprang from a cold call from the band’s manager.
‘‘The Rolling Stones had a bad experience back in the 60s with a previous promoter, and was looking for someone new for Australia and New Zealand. I got the interview, which I passed,’’ Dainty says.
It was a commercial partnership that would continue for many years, until the two most-recent tours. Dainty remains good friends with the band to this day.
He used to ask the Stones each time they stepped off the plane whether that particular show would be the last one. He was answered with their return every few years, so, eventually, Dainty just stopped asking.
‘‘It was always asked of rock stars and music stars ‘are they getting past it’ at 70 plus,’’ he says. ‘‘I think it’s a stupid question, in many respects, because we don’t ask that question to movie actors, opera singers, or tycoons with mega businesses.’’
Now, despite, 40 years in the industry, he’s showing no signs of stopping. With a company consistently ranked as one of the top five global promoters by Billboard magazine, he’s still looking to bring more acts to Australasia.
Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour managed to sell 350,000 tickets for the Australian leg of the tour, and was a phenomenal success both monetarily and theatrically speaking.
‘‘That’s what fans want to see, that theatricality,’’ Dainty says. ‘‘The artists want it, too.’’
These giant productions, costing millions of dollars, are becoming the norm and the expected.
In a world filled with social media, instant gratification, and the whole millennial attitude, Dainty says the new generation of music fans have become more transient, moving from one fad to the next, and less like ‘‘real fans’’ who stick around for life.
And the new generation of stars is a little easier to please. US rockers Van Halen once famously demanded all the brown M&Ms be removed from their supply of the sweets.
Back in the 1980s, Fleetwood Mac asked for limes to be flown in from South America to New Zealand.
Dainty reckons social media scrutiny keeps today’s stars feet more firmly on the ground. Relatively standard catering requests are as wild as they get.
‘‘These days, it’s a big business. You don’t see what I would call ‘outrageous demands’.’’
If Dainty has one regret, it is that he is yet to organise a world-class act at Eden Park. He tried to get Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night about 15 years ago, but slammed against a brick wall that just couldn’t be taken down.
‘‘It’s still a major mystery to me why this spectacular stadium isn’t being utilised at least a few times a year by a major artist,’’ he says.
Dainty’s wish is still to see the place light up before he has to retire.