Big name acts head West
Wed 23 June
Big name acts head West instead. Why?
![Thrash metal band Metallica heads to Perth instead!](/fileadmin/_migrated/pics/metalica.jpg)
Perth will embrace a legion of live music acts this summer with promoters billing the coming concert season as the biggest and busiest the city has seen.
Bon Jovi will rock Subiaco Oval on December 8, while The Eagles are set to thrill a sellout crowd at nib Stadium on December 10.
They add to the growing tally of heavyweights heading West including Metallica, Leonard Cohen, Blondie, The Pretenders, Jack Johnson, Muse, and Michael Buble.
National promoter Michael Gudinski, of Frontier Touring Company, said "(The) Eagles tour announcement is the first of a number of major announcements that Frontier has for this summer. "We've had some pretty big summers in the past few years and this one looks set to rival those."
WA promoter Brad Mellen, of Mellen Events, which organises the popular Day on the Green concerts, Summadayze and Future Music festivals, said Perth punters should brace themselves for many more big names.
Demand has been so great for the first Day on the Green concert of the season, Blondie and the Pretenders at Kings Park in November, that a second show has been scheduled.
"We've got another six Day on the Green shows to announce in November and December at Kings Park and a whole run of shows for the start of next year," Mr Mellen said. "At last count we have about 24 shows, including Summadayze and Future Music. They are all major shows, major national and international acts - huge acts."
Mr Mellen said the 2010-11 concert season would top the previous year and he predicted the trend would continue, thanks to a strong Australian dollar and the continued loss of revenue from music sales.
"I think we are going to see more and more acts turning to live touring as a result of the record companies and their demise," he said.
Perth punters will see Powderfinger, and Parklife in September, Metallica in October, Leonard Cohen, Blondie, and The Pretenders is November, and Jack Johnson, Bon Jovi, The Eagles, and Muse in December
Also rumoured to play in WA are Paul McCartney, Eminem, Chemical Brothers, Gorillaz, Scissor Sisters and Norah Jones.
Editors Comments: It appears that WA is flogging us over here on the East Coast in regards to the headline entertainment sector. Up here in the far north, we're used to having to travel hundreds of miles to our capital city, Brisbane to see the big names because we don't have a major stadium in Cairns to use as a suitable venue but we do have great weather, so why aren't we putting on outdoor festivals?
Perhaps instead of aquaparks and cultural precincts Cairns should be looking to build a stadium that both our resident major sports clubs could use on a regular basis and then share with 'live' events to entice similar performers to those WA is currently enjoying. Now that would bring the domestic tourists up here wouldn't it? What do you think?