Claudelands Oval was the Hamilton venue for the Six60 concert in 2021. In 2024 it will host the Summer Concert Tour originally scheduled for Whitianga. Photo / Supplied
As the Coromandel works hard to fix its infrastructure after the recent severe weather, Cyclone Gabrielle has blown a big event opportunity Hamilton’s way.
The city will host the annual Summer Concert Tour in January, instead of Whitianga, with event organisers Greenstone Entertainment saying on Tuesday that the move was because of uncertainty over the Coromandel road network.
Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate, a regular at the Summer Concert Tour events, says she feels for the Coromandel, but Hamilton will do a great job.
“My sympathies go to the Coromandel. They have been hit very hard ... [and] are facing a hugely expensive fix-up ... The concert was something they could look forward to.
“Having said that, Hamilton is great at hosting events, we’ve shown this time and time again. I know we will do a great job.”
The Summer Concert Tour is traditionally held in Queenstown, Taupō and Whitianga around Auckland Anniversary Weekend. Next year’s event originally scheduled for Whitianga will be held at Hamilton’s Claudelands Oval on January 28.
Greenstone Entertainment chief executive Amanda Calvert says the move from Whitianga to Hamilton would be for one year only and the organisation had “given a wealth of consideration” about where to hold the show.
“We love the Coromandel region, it aligns perfectly with our philosophy of bringing live music entertainment to some of New Zealand’s favourite summer holiday locations.
“By taking it to Hamilton we believe it will make it accessible for those in the immediate Hamilton region, as well as those travelling from the likes of Auckland and the Coromandel, along with offering a range of accommodation options to choose from.”
Thames-Cormandel Mayor Len Salt says the move is disappointing for the Whitianga community, businesses and the wider Coromandel.
“It doesn’t send a good signal to the business and event community about investing in our district right now. There will be a hit to the local economy, as the event usually attracts a sellout crowd of up to 15,000 and provides a great economic boost at the end of the summer holidays.”
Hamilton City Council’s venues, tourism, and major events general manager Sean Murray says the concert will bring visitors from out of town and “an increased spend” in the city.
“We’re happy to have them. It’s a big opportunity for Hamilton and Claudelands Oval is becoming an increasingly popular venue.”
Southgate adds: “People from out of town will come and stay here, go to cafes and hopefully go and see our gardens or the zoo and leave thinking Hamilton is a great place to visit.”
Southgate and Murray don’t think Hamilton is taking something from Coromandel.
“We are mindful of the disappointment for Coromandel, but it’s only going to be a one-off for Hamilton,” Murray says.
Hamilton & Waikato Tourism chief executive Nicola Greenwell agrees and says the concert will not only benefit Hamilton, but the wider Waikato region.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors to our region and encouraging them to explore more of the Waikato while they are here.
“We know that Greenstone Entertainment love the Coromandel and they look forward to returning the concert there in due course. In the meantime, this event is a great addition to the 2024 summer events calendar for the Waikato.”
The Taupō Summer Concert will be held on January 27 and the Gibbston Valley Winery Summer Concert will be held near Queenstown on February 3.
Southgate and Murray say they will be among the people lining up for tickets.
Southgate says: “I’m very excited about this personally because I have been about three or four times to the concert in Taupō and once in Whitianga and it was always fabulous. They always get great acts.”
The artists for the 2024 concert tour have yet to be finalised, but the 2023 line-up included ZZ Top, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Stone Temple Pilots and The Angels.
Murray says he was keen to go along to this year’s concert to see ZZ Top but he missed out because he had to work.
“I have to check with my wife, but I definitely want to go [in 2024]. It will be the first time I will attend the concert, but I’m very familiar with what they are about. I’m interested to see the line-up for this year, that’s when it gets exciting.”
While Murray and Southgate both say Hamilton didn’t have any talks with Greenstone Entertainment about holding the event in Hamilton in the future, they say the council was always open to discussions.
“We are focused on hosting a great event and if the organisers turned around and said they’d make Hamilton an additional venue in the future, we’d say ‘Bring it on!’,” Southgate says.
- Additional reporting by Dan Hutchinson and Jim Birchall