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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
Josh Leeson

Stadium boss confident Newcastle will continue surfing concert wave

McDonald Jones Stadium venues manager Dean Mantle and Hunter Children's Research Foundation chair Janelle Shakespeare with the signed Pink surfboard. Picture by Jonathan Carroll

MCDONALD Jones Stadium venue manager Dean Mantle is confident another major event will be held in Newcastle later in 2024.

Last week's sold-out Pink show was the fourth concert held at the stadium, following on from piano-rock icon Elton John's two shows in January 2023 and Beatles legend Paul McCartney's historic October 2023 gig.

However, after Pink the schedule is bare.

Mr Mantle said there are several dates that have been pencilled in for late 2024, early 2025 and late 2025.

"From some of the recent discussions I've had, I'm quite confident that we will secure a big event before the end of this year," he said.

"But again, nothing is guaranteed. Until we have a signed contract, it's still to be confirmed."

British indie-pop stalwarts Coldplay are touring Australia in October and November and grunge legends Pearl Jam have announced their first Antipodean shows in a decade scheduled for November.

However, neither are expected to announce Newcastle shows.

The Pink concert, in particular, proved McDonald Jones Stadium could be a versatile venue.

Unlike the Elton and McCartney shows, which had temporary seating on the ground, Pink provided a general admission standing floor section.

This boosted the capacity on the field from 10,000 to over 15,000 and catered for an overall crowd of 34,699 at Pink.

"It certainly offered the stadium in a whole new light," Mr Mantle said. "It managed quite successfully to host so many more bodies.

"It was the biggest capacity we've had in the venue in its current form and it handled it very well.

"I believe it has the capacity to handle a bit more. We'll work to make some infrastructure changes around the venue to see what we can do to improve access to and from the venue, which would aid us to increase the capacities as we go."

On Tuesday Mr Mantle formally donated a custom surfboard signed by Pink to Janelle Shakespeare, the chair of the Hunter Children's Research Foundation (HCRF).

The surfboard will be raffled with all proceeds from ticket sales used to fund HCRF's children's medical research into terminal and life-threatening illnesses.

Tickets are $20 each and the fundraising goal is $10,000. The winner will be drawn at 8.30am on March 22.

Another two custom surfboards were created for the occasion. One was given to Pink and the other will remain at McDonald Jones Stadium.

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