How Dunedin lured award-winning rapper
So how did Dunedin secure arguably the biggest name in hiphop?
If you haven’t heard of Kendrick Lamar, you soon will. The critically-acclaimed artist, who last week won the Pulitzer Prize and has 12 Grammy awards to his name, will play under the roof at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 17.
Yes, you read that right. Dunedin. In July. Enter Terry Davies.
Davies is the fast-talking chief executive of Dunedin Venues Management Limited (DVML), and he told The Press the venue is making a name for itself with promoters.
He credited the 2015 Fleetwood Mac concert, a Wednesday-night gig in a regional market, with being a ‘‘game-changer’’ for the stadium. ‘‘When we sold that out everyone took notice.’’
And when you couple in the three Ed Sheeran concerts over Easter, ‘‘that was just another level’’.
Davies said whenever a tour is announced the stadium automatically comes up as an option for promoters – ‘‘that is all we ask’’.
‘‘We say to the promoters we are the second-best option for New Zealand at the moment.’’
That phrase ‘‘at the moment’’ is important, as Davies is acutely aware of the hand-wringing in some centres – notably Christchurch and Wellington – over the concerts Dunedin has secured.
Dunedin often piggy-backs concerts with Auckland venues, a ‘‘seamless experience for the promoters, and the artists enjoy playing here as well’’.
And as a ‘‘hybrid’’ the Dunedin venue can cater for smaller concerts, such as Robbie Williams or Paul Simon, to larger shows such as Sheeran and Elton John.
He declined to comment on how much, if anything, was paid to secure the hip-hop star as ‘‘every deal is different’’.
‘‘As long as we are keeping the promoter and artist happy, ticking our economic impact and pride of city boxes then we are going to be going hard,’’ he said.
‘‘We are putting Dunedin on the map. The Ed Sheeran concerts will be talked about in London, Europe and obviously through the southern hemisphere.’’
He confirmed another forthcoming show, Pink, is almost sold out.
Michael Coppel, of promoters Live Nation Australasia, said Lamar is one of the world’s most creative and successful hip-hop artists.
The large capacity of Forsyth Barr Stadium allows promoters ‘‘to bring major shows to the South Island by generating larger potential revenue to cover the high costs of coming south’’. ‘‘We’re always optimistic about audiences coming out in support of artists of this calibre, it’s a great concert market.’’
He praised the venue, city, council and university for supporting past concerts and said: ‘‘We’re looking forward to a great outcome with Kendrick Lamar.’’
Davies said he was unsure how large the Lamar concert would be. ‘‘This is a new one for us ... I just don’t know.’’
The concert will coincide with students’ re-orientation period and has generated plenty of interest on social media.
‘‘We are in the business of delivering events to all of our region. We want to deliver for all ages ... that is important for us.’’
Asked if Lamar would get a mural he replied: ‘‘Who knows what is going to happen, I’ll be watching with interest.’’
The ‘‘Paint the Town Ed’’ event was organised by the city council’s Enterprise Dunedin, and featured a mural of the pop singer.
A Dunedin City Council spokeswoman said: ‘‘We’re delighted that another big name act such as Kendrick Lamar has included Dunedin as part of his worldwide tour.
‘‘As this is a one-off concert the level of city activation undertaken will not be at the same level as Ed Sheeran – which also coincided with Easter weekend.
‘‘However, as always, the Dunedin City Council will work with DVML to promote the concert and opportunities for local businesses to cater to concert-goers coming into the city.’’
Lamar is also playing Auckland’s Spark Arena on July 19, with tickets on sale on April 30.