How this regional Aussie town secured rock legend Lenny Kravitz

Sydney Morning Herald

21 hours ago

Rock legend Lenny Kravitz is bringing his world tour to Australia with dates in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane … and Mildura.
On November 28, the four-time Grammy Award-winner will rock Mildura, a regional town six hours north-west of Melbourne after shows in the east-coast capitals, the NSW port city of Newcastle, and in Adelaide right before the bp Adelaide Grand Final supercars event.
'[Monday's] announcement is yet another landmark moment for our community in terms of major events,' Mildura City Council mayor Helen Healy said. 'It also provides us with another golden opportunity to welcome visitors to our beautiful corner of the world later this year.'
Backed by the state government, the Blue Electric Light tour show at the Sporting Precinct is expected to attract up to 15,000 fans.
But how did Mildura – a region with a population of about 57,000 people – secure this legend of rock?
Kravitz is the second major artist to perform in Mildura in the past three years. Rock band Kings of Leon wowed more than 10,000 fans at the Sporting Precinct in 2022, immediately after the state's sixth lockdown.
The Kravitz show is supported by the state government's $38 million regional events fund, established to attract tourist dollars from interstate and overseas, and to get Melburnians into the regions. Following the success of the Kings of Leon and Foo Fighters in Geelong in 2022, Visit Victoria engaged with the live music sector to seek headline talent to again venture beyond the big cities.
Healy said the Kings of Leon performance injected more than $2 million into the local economy, and helped fill more than 9000 hotel rooms. About 40 per cent of the concert-goers travelled from outside the region.