KISS may be a sore point for some Hunter music fans, given the band's cancelled Supercars visit never returned. But the pitch to forge McDonald Jones Stadium on Turton Road into a concert venue the likes of which Newcastle has never had before brings it back to the fore.
"We know the strength of the Newcastle market. Because it's a proven market, there's a lot of opportunity," TEG chief executive Geoff Jones said. "To give you an example, we're bringing Kiss to Townsville's Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
"McDonald Jones is probably equal to the capacity of Townsville if not bigger and McDonald Jones has got the benefit of a much, much bigger catchment area than North Queensland."
For music fans, the chance for the Hunter to end up drawing the kind of acts that often require them to hurtle down the M1 would undoubtedly be a welcome one. But as live music hangs on in the city's existing venues, the push for open-air concerts at Broadmeadow may hear a less enthusiastic response from the venue's neighbours.
When Paul Stanley and co. were headed to the Hunter, they were going to play No.1 Sportsground. While novel, that venue is hardly as ready to welcome performers and the thousands who flock to see them as the stadium that houses Knights NRL matches, Matildas games and international rugby.
But sports fans may be reticent to share the venue again given past arrangements have not always worked out well for the grass upon which so many spectacles rely.
There was a period when A-League captains regularly dubbed the then Hunter Stadium the worst pitch they played upon. In 2009-10 it was voted the worst surface, then 10th of 11 in 2010-11, last in 2011-12 and sixth of 10 last season.
Newcastle's pitch was partially resurfaced, at short notice, before David Backham's LA Galaxy team visited in November 2010, after it was damaged by a motocross event. The repairs left it with a patchy appearance, but it was in poor condition long before then.
In December 2009, when the playing surface was probably at its worst, Jets marquee player Fabio Vignaroli tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee changing direction and was forced to retire.
Eighteen months later, the pitch was still being criticised by PFA. It cost $1.3 million to resurface the venue ahead of the Asian Cup in 2015, and questions might hover over any repeat of that investment without an imminent international tournament to justify the spend.
NSW Minister for Infrastructure Cities and Active Transport Rob Stokes in May said Hunter Park, the transformation of Broadmeadow, "needs to be more than a stadium". "Whether that's more opportunities to live, work or play... it's probably all three," he said. Most Hunter residents would agree, but it's important we don't carelessly kiss goodbye what we have in the process either.
