WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
Sold-out concert tipped to turn up volume on big gigs
QUEEN’S sold-out Metricon Stadium concert tonight is set to shine an “unprecedented” spotlight on the
Gold Coast and could lead to other major acts rocking out in the city.
Concert promoter Paul Dainty said adding the Coast to the tour schedule on top of a Brisbane concert was a gamble that had paid off, with 40,000 tickets sold for the final stop on the band’s Rhapsody tour.
“For sure we have other artists in the pipeline I’m considering for 2020 and beyond on the Gold Coast and at Metricon,” Mr Dainty said.
More than half of tickets sold have been bought by concertgoers outside of the Gold Coast.
QUEEN’S sold-out Metricon Stadium concert tonight is set to shine an “unprecedented” spotlight on the Gold Coast and could lead to other major acts rocking out in the city.
The Carrara concert is the final stop on the band’s Rhapsody tour, which has so far seen them perform at stadiums across Australia and New Zealand.
Concert promoter Paul Dainty said the sold-out show had led him to consider bringing other acts to the Gold Coast in future.
“It was quite a gamble when we decided to play both Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It has never been done before,” he said.
“This decision has resulted in a sell-out (show) with over 40,000 attending. I am told this is the biggest live event on the Gold Coast, which is fantastic.
“For sure we have other artists in the pipeline I’m considering for 2020 and beyond on the Gold Coast and at Metricon.
“The Rhapsody tour has been an event in each city with audiences loving the show, the production and the incredible presence of Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert.
“(Tonight) they will deliver an amazing show as they have across Australia for the past three weeks.”
And it is not just locals lining up for tonight’s gig, with ticket data suggesting 20,000 attendees do not live on the Coast. Organisers know of 60 people flying in from Europe, two from Brazil and two from Alaska for the concert.
Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista said the high-profile performance would bring a large amount of attention to the city.
“As a premier events destination, the Gold Coast’s diverse scope to host major events, televised sports action and live performances continues to showcase our multifaceted tourism sector,” she said.
“Since hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games ceremonies, key sporting events at a state-of-the-art venue and now the transformation of Metricon Stadium into a large-scale outdoor music amphitheatre, is a testament to the Gold Coast’s ability to stage world-class events.
“Generated exposure of this event on a national scale is phenomenal and positions the destination front of mind for visitors from key fly-anddrive markets.
“This has a profound influence on future visitation and increasing the appeal of the Gold Coast.
“We expect that the staging of high-profile events such as this against the Gold Coast’s unmatched backdrop will continue to hail domestic and international visitors.”
Work to bring the tour to the Gold Coast started four years ago, before Metricon finally struck a deal with promotion company TEG Dainty to land the final spot on the tour.
Gold Coast Suns chairman and entertainment guru Tony Cochrane last week told the Gold Coast Bulletin the stadium had made a “compelling case” for the city.
“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 a viable venue,” he said at the time.
“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 ... we have exceeded that number.”
The last rock act to play at Metricon was the Foo Fighters, who attracted 37,000 fans in December 2011.
The Queen concert starts at Metricon Stadium at 8pm.
GOLD Coast music fans have voted with their hearts and wallets to pack Metricon Stadium tonight to see the supergroup Queen.
In doing so, they are also supporting the visionaries who secured the amazing coup that brought Queen here – and the promise of turning the trickle of big acts into a flood. That really would be the crowning glory.
The concert is expected to inject about $7 million into the Gold Coast econony, but our city stands to gain considerably more than a single night of rock’n’roll magic.
It’s been a long time between drinks since the last major stadium-style concert – the Foo Fighters, which attracted 37,000 in December 2011. Tonight’s entertainment extravaganza will pull 40,000 through the gates, demonstrating – particularly to the promoters who bring the really big acts to Australia – that we are indeed the champions and the tourism and events capital has to be part of the concert tour equation.
A key to ending the major concert drought has been the hard work put in by the city’s entertainment guru, Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane, and his team in banging the table in meetings with Stadiums Queensland and in getting the support of Sport Minister Mick de Brenni in negotiating a new stadium deal.
As Mr Cochrane says, the Suns control the stadium 365 days a year. The long-term strategy has been to shake off the shackles of the previous leasing arrangements and to strike a fairer deal, allowing the Suns to turn Metricon into “a strong, viable venue” for all major events year-round.
Bringing Queen here was evidently no walk in the park, taking years to cement in place. But the result will be a win-win for everybody, giving fans a night they’ll never forget, vindicating the stand the Suns took in chasing a better deal so the big shows could be brought here, and showing promoters everywhere that the stadium is the right venue to host the world’s biggest and best acts.
We want it all and they can’t stop us now. Or can they?
It is critical public transport authorities are on the ball tonight. The city cannot afford any sort of transport debacle, as happened on the opening night of the Commonwealth Games when thousands had to stand in long lines following the ceremony because bus services struggled to clear the crowds.
Any hiccup in bus, rail or tram services – including the “track maintenance” and M1 night works that have a habit of annoying people trying to get to or from major events here and in Brisbane – could undo a lot of the good work put in to demonstrate the city’s entertainment credentials.