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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Sage Swinton

'A lot of interest': What next for Newcastle after Elton success

Sir Elton John's concerts were well received by fans. Picture by Marina Neil

Frontier Touring founder Michael Chugg could not have been happier with how Sir Elton John's first and last shows in Newcastle went.

"Unbelievable," the veteran promoter said. "Everything was really perfect. Audiences arrived nice and early so we had virtually 100 per cent of the house in before he went on stage.

"There was a bit of a problem with the shuttle buses on the first night... so they doubled the buses.

"It was a huge learning curve. Obviously, there hasn't been a major concert in Newcastle really since the earthquake concert 33 years ago, so we were blown away with everything."

McDonald Jones Stadium venue manager Dean Mantle said having two shows helped them find out what worked.

"Everything is different so to be fair what we saw on Sunday allowed us to tweak a few things and ensure we had all the right things in place for food and beverage," he said.

"There's always something you can do better, but to be fair it really depends on the event and the demographic.

"We'll take away what we've learnt in this instance and put that towards what comes next and I have no doubt based on what I've seen now it's going to be a positive experience for both us and the city."

The bar has certainly been set high by the world-class Elton. Mr Chugg and Mr Mantle remained tight lipped about what might be in store next, but confirmed talks were underway.

"Elton John pulls huge crowds wherever he goes... so we knew it'd be good," Mr Chugg said. "You can't really go 'if Elton can pull 48,000 people, so-and-so can do the same'. But there's a few acts I know are being discussed that could certainly do one full night at the stadium.

"We will certainly be looking at what else we can do."

Mr Mantle said the venue was "really fortunate" to start off with someone like Elton.

"We're not talking about specifics at the moment, but the experience they had didn't hurt our chances of securing something for later on this year perhaps or in 2024."

He said the venue was "talking to different people" about future events and was "always on the hunt".

"Newcastle has really put itself on the map for things like this," the venue manager said. "We're proven we can do it and it makes those conversations much easier and definitely there are a few things floating around, there's no perspectives, but there's a lot of interest and we could see something by the end of the year."

Mr Mantle said the pitch also fared well with the extra foot traffic.

"We have our grounds team here and the sprinklers on and they're working to get it back to the best condition we can get for the Jets to go around on the 22nd," he said.

"We plan for post venue.

"We haven't identified if there's a need for a replacement yet and that's a process we'll go through over the next few days.

"At first glance and with discussions we've had with the grounds team it's really positive and it's held up really well."

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