Now that the first shit rugby game is out of the way, Critic has started salivating about this year’s big event at the Forsyth Barr Stadium: the Elton John concert. This concert will showcase the stadium’s potential as a year-round venue, Dunedin’s new addition being the country’s only fully covered stadium.
David Davies, CEO of Dunedin Venues, is thrilled with the concert booking, waxing lyrical about it at length in a series of space-filling quotes we have gleaned from other media outlets.
“Elton is a true legendary superstar. This is a fantastic coup for the city and with his music spanning four decades, this will attract a huge crowd of young and old from the city, region and beyond.”
“This concert is going to be a big show and a real performance – but most importantly this is an international vote of confidence in Dunedin’s ability to deliver world class events.”
However, prior to Elton being secured, public opinion had been divided on the stadium. After prolonged deliberation, the Dunedin City Council voted 12–2 in favour of proceeding with the building project in March 2008. A number of legal proceedings were then taken against both the DCC and the Otago Regional Council in an attempt to stop the stadium being funded by public money. These objections were all ultimately unsuccessful, leaving Critic to speculate that those involved in pushing the project through are huge Elton fans who pretty much built the white elephant just to hear ‘Rocket Man’ live.
Critic would have been happy to chip in if we had been asked: we love Elton as much as the next Scarfie.
Fuck rugby, this is what the real Scarfies are excited about.
