Country Profile: New Zealand

With a population roughly that of Sydney, New Zealand has a vibrant music scene and a solid appetite for concerts. The vast majority of major tours into Australia also stop into NZ, with a date in Auckland, the most populous city, the bare minimum.

Make no mistake, NZ is not a one-city market. When Ed Sheeran next tours the Land of the Long White Cloud, presented by Frontier Touring in February 2023, he will play stadiums in Auckland and the capital, Wellington. Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road trek makes a return lap to NZ in January 2023 for shows produced by Chugg Entertainment, Frontier Touring, and AEG Presents.

Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch, also on South Island, is on the itinerary. The leading concert promoters in Australia also operate affiliates in New Zealand –including Frontier Touring, TEG’s live arms, and Live Nation.

“It has been a tough recovery, but overall the New Zealand market is bouncing back strongly,”

“It has been a tough recovery, but overall the New Zealand market is bouncing back strongly,” says Live Nation New Zealand managing director Mark Kneebone, whose recent successes include Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa playing multiple nights at Spark Arena, and Billy Joel performing his first New Zealand stadium show in 25 years.

“We face similar challenges to other markets with a tough currency equation and logistical hurdles, but great artists keep wanting to tour, and kiwis are buying tickets. We had significant lockdown periods over the past two years, so fan confidence is still coming back, and we have to be realistic with ticket pricing and the volume of shows the market can carry. However, we have seen huge results for international talent over the past year, with plenty of acts selling their highest amount of tickets ever for the territory including Billie Eilish, IDLES, Big Thief, Rufus Du Sol, Dua Lipa and Harry Styles.”

New Zealand’s live infrastructure, like elsewhere, was mothballed through the worst years of the pandemic, though its concerts industry was the first to restart.

New Zealand’s live infrastructure, like elsewhere, was mothballed through the worst years of the pandemic, though its concerts industry was the first to restart. Live Nation tested Covid-safe shows with its multi-date Together Again programme at The Tuning Fork in central Auckland, part of Spark Arena (formerly Vector Arena), which the concert giant owns.

Australian outdoor concerts brand A Day on the Green, a joint venture of Roundhouse Entertainment and Mushroom Group, has presented concerts in a raft of wineries, including Alana Estate (Martinborough), Church Road Winery (Napier), Waipara Hills (Waipara), and Villa Maria Winery (Auckland). The tyranny of distance and NZ’s relatively small population have proven obstacles for touring artists in the past.

Now, promoters are confronted by a range of logistical issues and costs that didn’t exist prior to the health crisis. Auckland-born US chart-topper Lorde spelled out the issues with a social post in November, in which she cited crew shortages, overbooked trucks, tour buses, and venues, the inflated prices of flights and hotel rooms and Covid-related costs, in addition to “truly mindboggling” freight costs, with prices sometimes “three times higher” than pre-pandemic.

“There are record amounts of artists coming through over the next nine months, which is placing a strain on suppliers and local teams, particularly as most stadium and major arena tours are using local PA/LX/AV,”

“There are record amounts of artists coming through over the next nine months, which is placing a strain on suppliers and local teams, particularly as most stadium and major arena tours are using local PA/LX/AV,” says Kneebone. “However, we have delivered everything to spec so far, it just can sometimes take a little longer than pre-Covid.”

He adds: “The overall state of the economy is tricky with high inflation a constant hurdle for delivering successful shows, but we have been working with touring acts as early as possible to lock in the venue, suppliers, and marketing strategies required to deliver sold-out shows.”

New Zealand’s contemporary concert promoters are represented by the NZ Concert Promoters Association (NZPA), led by president Brent Eccles, co-owner of Eccles Entertainment which, since its launch in 2000, exclusively represents Frontier Touring, Illusive Presents, Chugg Entertainment, Arena Touring, and Roundhouse Entertainment.

Eccles Entertainment is once again presenting Six60’s forthcoming stadium tour, which will see the band play seven shows in Australia and NZ, which started in November at Rotorua International Stadium and will wrap up in March 2023 at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.