Elton John expands regional tour to first Hobart show in 27 years

Elton John and his band have extended their three-stop Once In A Lifetime regional tour to include Hobart, promoter Chugg Entertainment announced this morning.

The fourth date, on Wednesday September 27 at Derwent Entertainment Centre, is his first in that city in nearly 30 years.

“I played in Hobart twenty-seven years ago… which I admit is far too long. I simply cannot wait to return to Tasmania and its wonderful audiences,” John said.

“My band and I are really looking forward to being in Australia this September – I love coming back.”

Promoter Michael Chugg added, “I have a special love of Tasmania as it is my hometown state. I am sure that Elton John’s return will set the whole state rockin’!”

The Once In A Lifetime tour sees the superstar visit three other centres for the first time although he’s been touring here since October 1971 and played a total of 186 shows.

John’s current band includes drummer Nigel Olsson, who was part of the piano player’s original three-piece band, musical director and guitarist Davey Johnstone, who first recorded with Elton in 1971 and joined the band in a year later, bassist Matt Bissonette, percussionist John Mahonand Kim Bullard on keyboards.

John and the band will play two North Queensland dates, at Mackay’s BB Print Stadium on Friday 22 September and Cazaly’s Stadium in Cairns on Saturday 30 September.

There is also a show at Wollongong’s WIN Stadium on Sunday 24 September.

The two Queensland shows were secured by Tourism and Events Queensland, which according to The Cairns Post paid $600,000 while the Mackay and Cairns councils each came up with $300,000.

The Mackay venue has a capacity of 12,200 while the one in Cairns can accommodate 13,500.

The Post revealed that the tour had been finalised in November 2016, but only three council members were in the know – Mayor Bob Manning, Deputy Mayor Terry James and cultural services committee Chairwoman Cr Linda Cooper.

The money spent was referred to as Project X until the tour was announced this week.

When it was made public, Cr Richie Bates asked why the city’s Grass Is Greener dance festival had been struggling for months to get council funding. He urged the council to support the local event, which is expected to draw 5000 to 7000 – with a third to come from out of town.

The Mackay show is expected to be a boost to the local economy, with jobs created as fans come in from outside Mackay – mostly from the minefields where there’s been a downturn of business.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said, “When Bob (Manning) and I six months ago started talking about ’Project X’ we couldn’t believe it at that stage.

“We said ’Well, how much money should we put into this?’ And we said ’Well, whatever it takes’.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to showcase our region. We’re going to get a lot of people from all over Australia to see our region and it’ll be an outstanding event like we’ve never before seen.”

John’s first performance in Wollongong is expected to draw 17,000 – most of them from outside the region – and again expected to inject extra money into the local economy.