The Rolling Stones are not coming to Canberra... I repeat - The Rolling Stones are NOT coming to Canberra!

Kim F said :

Elton John in Commonwealth Park! Gee, it rained that night!

Holden Caulfield said :

IIRC the SA Gov made a $450K contribution to the Stones’ tour kitty. They were signed to open the revamped Adelaide Oval. Mick is a bit of a cricket tragic so I guess it resonated with him to do so, along with the tax payers’ sheckles, of course,

Aside from the unfortunate reasons for delaying the tour, I think the SA Gov dodged a bullet because I can’t see how the playing surface for the oval would have been up to scratch for its first game of AFL the following week.

And given the redevelopment of the ground is effectively being underwritten by the AFL it would have been a bit rude to have trashed the surface a week out from a showpiece match.

As to the possibility of Canberra hosting a gig, Andrew Barr made a pitch to the Stones to be included in the reschedule. Venues were always going to be an issue, not sure if they would have approved Bruce, but the talk was putting them in Federation Sq with Parliament House as the backdrop.

Did Andrew Barr make a pitch for Elton John as well?

Elton John in Commonwealth Park! Gee, it rained that night!

Do we not have a suitable venue? Would we not fill it?

Correct on both counts.

However, to ask “why we don’t get the big names here” ignores the truth – we do, just not as often as other cities.

Here’s some “big-name” gigs I’ve personally worked on in Canberra in the last 4-5 years;
Lady Gaga
Pink (sold out two shows)
Linkin Park
Good Charlotte
James Blunt
Matchbox20
The Presets

No doubt The Stones would sell out any venue in Canberra, but it costs a fortune to get the whole circus to town so they have to draw the line somewhere. Most venues they are playing in Aus are two to three times the capacity of AIS Arena for example.

IIRC the SA Gov made a $450K contribution to the Stones’ tour kitty. They were signed to open the revamped Adelaide Oval. Mick is a bit of a cricket tragic so I guess it resonated with him to do so, along with the tax payers’ sheckles, of course,

Aside from the unfortunate reasons for delaying the tour, I think the SA Gov dodged a bullet because I can’t see how the playing surface for the oval would have been up to scratch for its first game of AFL the following week.

And given the redevelopment of the ground is effectively being underwritten by the AFL it would have been a bit rude to have trashed the surface a week out from a showpiece match.

As to the possibility of Canberra hosting a gig, Andrew Barr made a pitch to the Stones to be included in the reschedule. Venues were always going to be an issue, not sure if they would have approved Bruce, but the talk was putting them in Federation Sq with Parliament House as the backdrop.