Chatterbox: Decisions, decisions, decisions

There's an international gig every second or third night at the moment and it's set to continue into April.

Good Charlotte, kd lang, and former Talking Head David Byrne played consecutive nights in a row this past week.

And singer-songwriter Donavon Frankenreiter, vintage funkateer George Clinton, reggae stalwarts the Wailers, and Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan have just announced shows in the coming months.

Plus this week there's Cher's outdoor show as well as Velvet Revolver at the Supertop, and next month R.E.M. perform two shows, alt-blues stompers the Black Keys play, and American punks Green Day are here for a one-off sold-out show.

This is the most gigs New Zealand has ever had, say longtime concert promoters Ian Magan and Gray Bartlett from Pacific Entertainment, the company behind the Cher and Norah Jones shows.

It's going off. But why now? Why so many gigs?

The increase in international gigs at this time of year has a lot to do with Australia's East Coast International Blues and Roots Festival in Byron Bay during March. Many acts from the festival also play New Zealand. This year, REM, Bright Eyes, George Clinton, George Thorogood, Sarah McLachlan, and The Wailers are among those hopping across the Tasman.

But there must be more to it than that. We ask the concert promoters to explain.

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GIGS AT THE MOMENT?

Magan: The live circuit in America has dropped off a little bit in the past 18 months and I think you'll find several artists are spending more time in Asia and the Pacific to help make up for the drop-off in their local economy.

Peter Campbell, Eccles Entertainment/Frontier Touring: More artists are out touring internationally and it's got cheaper to travel to this part of the world. But we wouldn't be getting anything in New Zealand that doesn't go to Australia - we're a definite tag-on and there's still a lot of stuff that doesn't come to New Zealand.

Manolo Echave, Michael Chugg Entertainment : We sort of predicted this a year ago. The notable downturn in record sales, especially for the most popular artists, was having a marked effect on their income. The prediction then was the live touring scene was going to see an increase, basically due to the fact they've still got to keep that income going.

If you look at a lot of tours over the past year, a high percentage of them have happened not on the back of promoting a current album, or part of a world tour promoting an album, but simply because they're out touring.

Xan Hamilton, Mystery Girl: If there's a lot of bands coming down from America it's because they're fleeing winter. They just like to get out of the States in general, and especially in winter. Plus if bands want to take a few extra days' holiday they do it here because in Australia there's so much time spent flying from city to city.

DO YOU THINK WE'RE GETTING SATURATED?

Magan: There's no evidence of that. It's more than what we're used to but we keep forgetting that New Zealand is a very buoyant live music market, one of the most buoyant per head of population in the world. This year we've got outdoor shows popping up in the regions such as New Plymouth that never used to get that stuff. That protects Auckland from being saturated and is good for the regions.

Bartlett: Plus the adult contemporary side (for example, Sarah McLachlan, Norah Jones and Cher) of it is really moving strong. As the demand internationally drops for the 15 to 19-year-old market, the market for adult contemporary is increasing. And with the new venue in Auckland coming up there will be a golden period of another five to seven years, so I don't look for any major drop-off at all.

HAS IT GOT ANYTHING TO DO WITH PEOPLE BUYING FEWER CDS AND SPENDING MORE ON LIVE MUSIC?

Campbell: A little ... but probably more so in Australia than in New Zealand.

Echave: I think that's true as far as the younger market goes because the excitement of a live show is far more appealing to a younger age group. Plus the older market have got more particular about where they will go to see a show. We've always found it hard to get the older market to places like the North Shore Events Centre and the Supertop.

NOW THAT IT SEEMS IT'S BEING USED FOR CONCERTS AGAIN, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE LOGAN CAMPBELL CENTRE, - OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE CONCRETE BUNKER - AS A VENUE?

Echave: I've always liked the Logan Campbell Centre. The problem with it is you're limited with what production you can put in there - the stage is too small, the roof is quite low. It's always had a bad reputation over the years as a concrete box, but it's actually a good place to see a show on stage. But it's just that the stage is so small.

Campbell: I really like it. We used it last year for Toots and the Maytals and Burning Spear. It's good because you can licence the whole room and it becomes more like a club. It's just a shame about the location.