KEY POINTS:
It hasn't been the easiest of years but Vector Arena has officially survived its infancy and is shaping up to be the best thing that ever happened to Auckland's - and New Zealand's - live entertainment scene.
Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the venue's first gig,
by reality rockers Rockstar Supernova - a mere seven months after the venue was supposed to have opened. However, officials have wisely chosen to overlook this ignominious beginning and will mark the arena's official first birthday later this month.
April 21 is the anniversary of the venue's first sellout tour, when the Red Hot Chili Peppers drew capacity crowds to two shows and set a trend for the venue, which has hosted more than 15 sellout shows over the past year.
There have been 44 shows pass through the waterfront venue in the past 12 months, with another 10 acts booked in the coming months.
As of last week, a total of 445,000 tickets had been sold to a wide variety of shows - Guns 'n' Roses, the Dalai Lama, the Silver Ferns and tele-evangelist Benny Hinn.
It has also dealt with cancellations and postponements, including the last-minute scrapping of Christina Aguilera's sellout show, which saw hundreds of disappointed fans turned away from the venue after hours of queuing outside.
On average, the arena sells 2567 bottles of water at every show, and has sold more than 90,670 bottles of beer. Justin Timberlake clocks in as the venue's biggest revenue earner, pulling in more 33,000 punters to his trio of concerts last November, which earned more than $4 million in ticket sales.
It hasn't all been smoothing sailing. When the venue opened, complaints came thick and fast over the acoustics of the arena.
Sound engineers were brought in to fix the problem and minimise the reverb created by glass balustrades.
While the occasional complaint still surfaces, things have definitely improved and last December the arena was recognised as one of the best live music venues in the world when it was nominated for International Arena of the Year at the Pollstar Awards.
Vector didn't claim the prize, which went to London's Wembley Arena, but was still paid a huge compliment as the only nominated venue in the Southern Hemisphere.
Next month, the multi-purpose arena will prove just how diverse a venue it is, transforming into an ice rink for Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour, before hosting a night of brute force (or should that be farce?) with the World Wrestling Entertainment tour.
From the good (JT and Gwen Stefani), the bad (Rockstar Supernova) and the ugly (World Wrestling Entertainment), Vector has become the cornerstone of Auckland's live entertainment industry, making this town New Zealand's official big gig city.
THE FIGURES
12,200 seats
$80 million plus cost to build
44 shows performed in first year
445,000 tickets sold to date
90,675 bottles of beer sold
