Several household names bypassed Aotearoa New Zealand on their world tours ahead of Eden Park receiving consent to host 12 concerts a year. Photo / Composite / Getty Images / Anna Lee
Several household names bypassed Aotearoa New Zealand on their world tours ahead of Eden Park receiving consent to host 12 concerts a year. Photo / Composite / Getty Images / Anna Lee
THREE KEY FACTS
Last week Eden Park was granted permission by Auckland Council to host up to 12 concerts a year across six different artists.
Eden Park CEO Nick Sautner said the landmark decision will allow more large-scale acts to come to New Zealand.
Several major acts have skipped New Zealand in recent times, including Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.
New Zealand’s largest stadium, Eden Park, has been granted consent to host 12 concerts each year, a landmark decision Eden Park Trusts CEO Nick Sautner says will help the venue “compete with stadiums in Australia”. With more music on the horizon for Kiwi fans, the Herald’s Lana Andelane looks at five times Aotearoa didn’t make the cut for major world tours.
Aside from being pop culture phenoms, the five all recently excluded Aotearoa New Zealand from their touring schedules; snubs that saw some keen Kiwi fans travel far and wide to see their idols.
On Friday it was announced that Eden Park – a venue capable of seating more than 50,000 – had been granted permission by Auckland Council to double its current annual output, a decision that could be a major drawcard in attracting household names to Aotearoa.
The previous six-show limit made it difficult to host major artists, with promoters often requiring multiple dates to meet demand, Eden Park Trust’s CEO Nick Sautner told the Herald on Wednesday.
The new resource consent could now see Eden Park competing with major Australian stadiums, he added.
“Our ability to host up to 12 concert events annually provides flexibility for artists who want to perform multiple nights at the same venue to meet fan demand and our recent modifications to the West Stand, which increases our total capacity, enables us to compete with stadiums in Australia,” Sautner said.
“We will continue working with promoters to bring international artists to New Zealand’s national stadium.”
Sautner previously told the Herald the restrictions had hampered the venue’s ability “to attract and accommodate top-tier international acts”, noting how difficulties securing multiple dates had contributed to artists skipping New Zealand altogether.
“Our current consent doesn’t make this possible,” Sautner said earlier this year. “Which means artists are bypassing New Zealand and fans are missing out.”
Big-name artists booking more than one date meant the previous six-show allocation was quickly filled: for example, this November British pop-rockers Coldplay played a record-breaking three shows at the venue. As pop star Pink had performed two dates in March, it left just one slot for 2024: a space that was filled by rapper Travis Scott in October, although the show didn’t sell out.
At the time of publishing, Eden Park has so far secured three concerts for 2025: two dates for country behemoth Luke Combs in January, and one date for metal heavyweights Metallica in November. Auckland Council’s ruling last week means the stadium can now host nine additional shows next year.
So with more concerts on the horizon for Kiwi fans, here are five times household names bypassed New Zealand on their world tours.
Oasis
In October, it was announced that English rockers Oasis had added additional dates to the Australian leg of their Oasis Live 25 reunion tour, with the Gallagher brothers now set to play three shows in Melbourne and two in Sydney next October-November. New Zealand has remained noticeably absent from their dates Downunder, despite Sautner telling Newstalk ZB he was confident Eden Park would be well-equipped to host the band.
When approached by the Herald for comment on whether the new resource consent could see an Oasis concert next year, a spokesperson for Eden Park forwarded the Herald a statement.
“Expanding venue availability enables us to offer artists flexibility to perform multiple shows to meet fan demand, making Auckland a more attractive stop on their global tours,” the statement read.
“We will continue working with promoters to bring international artists to New Zealand’s national stadium. Our commitment to continually enhancing venue utilisation and infrastructure will ensure that Eden Park is a world-class, multi-purpose venue for top-tier events.”
Liam Gallagher of Oasis performing at Wembley Stadium, London on September 21, 2024. Photo / Getty Images
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour sidestepped Aotearoa earlier this year, prompting determined fans to fork out thousands to see their reigning Queen of Pop in Sydney or Melbourne (or both).
When the dates Downunder were announced in June 2023 (sans New Zealand), speculation arose that there wasn’t a large enough venue to accommodate Swift’s nearly 90m-long stage.
However, Sautner dismissed these rumours to the Herald in February, noting Eden Park had the capacity to host tens of thousands of Swifties. Instead, he suggested the resource consent restrictions were largely to blame.
“Eden Park has proven it can accommodate any stage or production and 60,000 fans,” he told the Herald at the time, adding he had no doubt the venue would have “sold out multiple shows”.
He once again noted that promoters more often than not require multiple dates to accommodate demand.
“Our current consent [six shows a year] doesn’t make this possible,” he said.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during The Eras Tour at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. Photo / Getty Images
Olivia Rodrigo
In May, popstar Olivia Rodrigo revealed the highly anticipated dates for the Downunder leg of her Guts World Tour – except New Zealand was notably absent.
The 21-year-old secured eights shows across both Sydney and Melbourne, but the updated tour schedule had a New Zealand-shaped hole – despite her support act being none other than Benee, one of New Zealand’s successful pop exports.
The Drivers License hitmaker played four dates at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena this October, followed by a further four at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena. Rod Laver Arena has a seating capacity of 14,820, while Qudos Bank Arena can accommodate up to 21,000. Auckland’s Eden Park can host both those capacities combined, plus an additional 14,180 – at least.
Alternatively, Auckland’s Spark Arena can seat more than 13,000, while Wellington’s Sky Arena can host 34,500.
The news of New Zealand’s omission came about a month after a fan revealed on social media that a Google search of “Olivia Rodrigo NZ” returned a link to Live Nation’s website, which appeared to advertise a show at Spark Arena on October 19.
An investigation by The Spinoff confirmed the URL contained the words “auckland/2024-10-19″, the American format for October 19, 2024. When the Herald Googled the same phrase in May, the Live Nation page was still the top result; however, it instead displayed a waitlist link.
The reasons for Rodrigo bypassing New Zealand remain unclear, and a spokesperson for Eden Park said they were unable to comment on specific artists.
Olivia Rodrigo performs at the Olivia Rodrigo "Guts" World Tour at the Intuit Dome on August 20, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Photo / Getty Images
Billie Eilish
In April, Grammy-winning pop phenom Billie Eilish announced a world tour in support of her album, Hit Me Hard and Soft: however, New Zealand wasn’t on the itinerary.
The Australian leg of Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour is scheduled for February 2025, with Eilish set to play four shows apiece in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The Australian dates are sandwiched by Los Angeles and Stockholm, with New Zealand nowhere to be seen.
“All shows have been announced ... no further Australian shows to be added. Get in fast to avoid disappointment!” a press release from Live Nation read at the time.
Like Rodrigo, Eilish will play the aforementioned Rod Laver and Qudos Bank arenas, as well as the Brisbane Entertainment Centre – a venue that can seat up to 13,500. The Brisbane stint will host a maximum of 54,000 fans across the four dates – a number that could be hosted by Eden Park in just one night.
The reasons for Eilish bypassing New Zealand also remain unclear, and a spokesperson for Eden Park again said they could not comment.
Billie Eilish during a visit to Berlin in 2024 for a promotional campaign. Photo / Getty Images
Madonna
The Queen of Pop’s The Celebration Tour, which ran from October 2023 to May 2024, hit the UK, Europe and North America (as well as Mexico and Brazil) – but when the dates were announced in January 2023, Australia and New Zealand were both glaringly absent.
Despite her career spanning five decades, Madonna, 66, has only performed in New Zealand once: she performed two shows at Auckland’s Vector Arena (now Spark Arena) as part of her Rebel Heart Tour in March 2016.
Her most recent tour saw the pop icon play the likes of London’s O2 Arena (20,000 capacity), Paris’ Accor Arena (20,300), New York’s Madison Square Garden (19,500) and Los Angeles’ Kia Forum (18,000).
The reasons for Madge bypassing her Oceania fanbase remain unclear.
With Eden Park now able to host 12 concerts a year, the question is: who will be next to headline New Zealand’s national stadium?
Lana Andelane is an entertainment and lifestyle journalist. She was previously lifestyle editor at Newshub, where she began her career as a news producer in 2019. She enjoys writing about music, pop culture, fashion and beauty.
