A relationship forged between The Crossing Theatre and a music promoter during the Daft Punk album launch in Wee Waa last May has lead to Narrabri securing a performance from Keith Urban next year as part of his Australian tour.
The Light The Fuse Tour will also include shows in Townsville, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
Narrabri will be Keith’s only rural performance.
“Nine Live - a tour promoter - was involved in a support
capacity with the Daft Punk event at the Wee Waa Show, we were establishing strong relationships with the organisations involved with that event, and this is an opportunity which has come out of that,” said The Crossing Theatre manager Trent Bruinsma.
He said there was “not a hope” of securing Keith Urban had Narrabri Shire not staged the Daft Punk album launch.
The Keith Urban show will be held at Collins Park on June 27, with an 11,000-person capacity.
“It’s reasonable to suggest that without the Daft Punk experience in May, that these sorts of opportunities would have been significantly harder to attract,” said Mr Bruinsma.
Narrabri Shire councillors gave their initial approval in August for the event to proceed.
The deal was secured last Thursday at 3.30pm, just prior to the announcement of the national tour last Friday morning.
“By Keith agreeing to and scheduling a performance in a regional heartland showcases his desire to perform in front of his rural and regional fans, who more often than not don’t get these opportunities,” said Mr Bruinsma.
The Crossing Theatre has already fielded calls from excited Keith Urban fans.
“Most of the calls have come from NSW, and there’s certainly been a lot of interest on social media,” said Mr Bruinsma.
“Many are interested in coming from Brisbane or Sydney for a country experience.”
The Crossing Theatre and Narrabri Shire Council have exclusive rights to manage all food and beverage offerings.
The Crossing Theatre will handle the bars, and will be sourcing expressions of interest from the local community, including not-for-profit organisations, to ask if they wish to be involved with food sales.
Tickets have already gone on sale through Ticketek for Keith Urban VIP Fan Club members, and Ticketek members, and will be available to the public on Monday December 9.
Narrabri Shire residents will have exclusive access to ticket purchases from noon on Friday until 5pm Saturday, with a link on The Crossing Theatre’s website directing people to the Ticketek website.
In the mean time, work is already well underway to stage the hotly-anticipated event.