Melbourne Cricket Ground
It’s a whole new ballgame for Katy Perry, as the “Roar” singer is confirmed as the headline performer for the AFL Grand Final.
The U.S. pop star will perform this September at the imposing Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue for the ’s showpiece event.
On Thursday, July 25 the league announced her appearance at the grand final, confirming weeks of speculation.
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“The sound of millions of Aussies roaring at the same spectacle, I’d like to hear that,” she says in a promo, a reference to the code’s “I’d Like to See That” campaign in the ‘90s. “100,000 passionate fans roaring at the mighty MCG,” says adds in the clip posted by the AFL, “I can’t wait to hear that.”
The AFL’s big day is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 28.
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It won’t be the first time Perry has performed at the MCG for a major sporting event. In March 2020, just days before the pandemic shut borders and venues everywhere, Perry sang at the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, an abbreviated format of cricket.
Whether she wraps her head around Aussies rules’ unique gameplay and terminology remains to be seen.
Perry is, of course, on the musical comeback trail. Earlier this month, she dropped “Woman’s World,” her first new music since 2020’s Smile, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
The song serves as the lead track to her upcoming, long-awaited dance-pop album, 143, which is code for “I love you” and is due to arrive on Sept. 20. “Woman’s World” hasn’t set the charts on fire. The track bowed at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, one of her 36 appearances on the tally, and No. 47 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart.
Ed Sheeran completed a hattrick of attendance records last week when his – = ÷ x Tour (pronounced The Mathematics Tour) swung into the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the largest stadium in Australia.
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The English pop superstar broke the national record for attendance at a ticketed concert on Thursday (March 2) with upwards of 105,000 tickets sold.
He was just warming up.
The imposing venue was the host for another record-breaking effort last Friday (March 3), when more than 109,500 Sheerios packed the house — setting a new mark for the second consecutive night.
The combined attendance across those two shows, at almost 215,000, will take some beating.
The MCG, or simply the G, as locals call it, is a sporting and concerts caldron which has hosted countless events since it was constructed on its current site in 1853.
The opening and closing ceremonies for the 1956 Olympic Games where held at the MCG, it’s the spiritual home of AFL, the world’s largest Test cricket ground, and it has provided the backdrop for concerts by the biggest names in music, from David Bowie to U2, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones, Madonna and many others.
With those two massive shows, Sheeran has a special footnote in the history of the MCG and Australia’s touring market — and not for the first time.
When the “Shape Of You” singer last toured Australia with Frontier Touring, in 2018, more than 1 million tickets were sold, a feat that wiped Dire Straits’ record for a single trek (950,000) that had stood for more than 30 years. Sheeran’s Divide tour that year also set a new mark of 18 stadium dates across Australia and New Zealand, beating AC/DC’s old record (14).
Sheeran has a deep friendship with Australia and the Gudinskis, the family behind Frontier Touring, the touring company which produced the current recent trek, the 2018 Divide run and others.
All five of his studio albums have led the ARIA Chart. He has a chance to hit the national survey for six when his next album, Subtract, drops May 5.
Sheeran’s hit “Shape Of You” is the leader on the ARIA Top 100 Singles chart of the 2010s.
The Brit’s 12-date The Mathematics Tour of Australasia continues tonight (March 7) at the Adelaide Oval and wraps up Sunday (March 12) at Perth’s Optus Stadium.
Tickets are available for both shows.
BRISBANE, Australia — Ed Sheeran’s current stadium tour of Australia is now a record-setter, smashing the attendance mark at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The English singer and songwriter enters the history books by selling more than 107,000 tickets for his concert Friday night (March 3) at the MCG, according to Frontier Touring, which is producing the domestic leg of his + – = ÷ x Tour.
There’s a chance he can break it again. Sheeran will also play the 170-year-old venue on Thursday night, for which he has sold more than 100,000 tickets with a final batch now up for sale.
“Ed loves to break a record and he’s smashed this one,” comments Matt Gudinski, CEO of Mushroom Group, parent of Frontier Touring. “It’s phenomenal that more than 200,000 people will see this amazing show at our iconic MCG. Melbourne is set for two incredibly special nights with one of the greatest performers ever.”
The MCG is hallowed turf, a multi-purpose space that has hosted countless sporting matches and concerts since it was constructed on its current site in 1853.
The G, as it’s affectionately known here, hosted the opening and closing ceremonies for the 1956 Olympic Games, it’s the spiritual home of AFL, a Test cricket ground, and its presented concerts by the biggest names in music, from David Bowie to U2, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, the Rolling Stones, Madonna and many others.
Every stadium act is looking for a unique stage configuration. #EdSheeran nails it with his Lazy Susan setup, his bandmates isolated at four points. Birthday bloke gave us a sweet moment Friday night with his tribute to MG, “Visiting Hours.” Many sniffles where we was stood… pic.twitter.com/krbPByxLLO— Lars Brandle (@larsbrandle) February 18, 2023
Sheeran and Gudinski celebrated the achievement with a toast to the company’s founder, the late Michael Gudinski, father of Matt Gudinski. The pair flanked the permanent statue of MG outside of Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, and shared a bottle of Penfolds.
“Toasting a 707 to the big man ahead of playing the biggest ticketed shows ever in Australian history this weekend,” writes Sheeran on his social channels.
“We miss you, you finally got me playing MCG in the round.”
When Sheeran completes his two-night stand at the MCG, his + – = ÷ x Tour of Australia and New Zealand moves on to Adelaide Oval (March 7) and climaxes March 12 at Perth’s Optus Stadium, the final in a 12-date trans-Tasman trek.
History is often made when Sheeran and Frontier Touring team up.
When Sheeran last toured Australia with Frontier Touring, in 2018, more than 1 million tickets were sold, a feat that sunk Dire Straits’ record for a single trek (950,000) that had stood for more than 30 years. Sheeran’s Divide tour that year also set a new record of 18 stadium dates across Australia and New Zealand, beating AC/DC’s old mark (14).
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