2010’s Most Memorable Live Moments
The 2010’s was a defining era for the Australian live music scene. We saw the rise and fall of some iconic Australian music festivals, as well as return and farewells of some of our favourite artists. Australia also saw an increase in scammers and scalpers through sites such as Gumtree and Viagogo along with the rise of social media. With the Hottest 100 of the Decade around the corner, the team at Tixel took a trip down memory lane to some of the biggest moments of the twenty-tens.
AC/DC Black Ice Tour (2010)
AC/DC’s Black Ice Tour was the highest-grossing tour of all time for an Australian artist and the fourth highest-grossing internationally. As well as this the shows were also the fastest-selling of all time in Australia, selling out in just minutes after being released. The tour started in Melbourne on the 11th of February 2010 and sold out three Etihad stadiums and three ANZ stadiums.
Justin Bieber’s concert riot (2010)
He’d just released his debut hit Baby and Sunrise had brought him out for a free concert in the streets of Sydney, however they didn’t anticipate the response he brang. The streets were jammed packed and it caused police to cancel the concert for the safety of fans.
Metallica, Linkedin Park & Blink 182 at Soundwave (2013)
Individually each band are more likely to sell-out their own concert then headline a one-day festival together, but Soundwave brought them together to what is arguably Australia’s greatest ever rock line up. Metallica visit to Australia paid homage to their most successful self titled album known as the black album on its 20th anniversary.
Stereosonic goes 2 days (2013)
2013 was peck EDM. It was on the radio, in the clubs and on all of our festival line-ups. It was the first and only time Stereosonic was held over 2 days, but it was jammed packed with a line-up that made it look more like Tomorrowland. Stereosonic sadly shut its gates forever in 2015 but was reborn as Festival X in 2019.
Tame Impala & Flume at Groovin the Moo (2013)
Flume had just released his debut self titled album and Tame Impala their second studio album Lonerism. Both are now arguably the two biggest Australian artists of the decade and have since taken on the entire globe. Flume overloaded the dance tent and afterwards, fans quickly migrated to the main stage to experience Kevin Parker perform his new hits ‘Elephant’ and ‘Feels Like It Only Goes Backwards’.
Outkast at Splendour (2014)
After Outkast accidentally released that they were playing at Byron Bay on their website, rumours quickly leaked that the duo would be reuniting at Splendour. Fans gave a big ‘Hey Ya’ when rumours were confirmed by Splendour in the Grass on April 23rd 2014 for their only Aussie show. Those who missed out may never be able to see Andre 3000 and Big Boi as a duo ever again.
Eminem Rapture Tour (2014)
The rap god sold out every one of his shows on the leg of his tour that supported the release of his 8th studio album, ‘The Marshall Mathers LP 2’. However, it didn’t stop there, Eminem brought along Kendrick Lamar & J. Cole as support acts, for a concert that seemed more like a festival in the end.
Big Day Out (2014)
It was the final Big Day Out and an end to one of Australia’s longest-running festivals at 22 years old. The festival began in 1992 in Sydney and expanded to tour all of Australia, as well as Auckland. The last festival welcomed Pearl Jam & Arcade Fire after an unfortunate cancellation from Blur. The festival paved the way for an incredible festival culture that Australia now has today.
Drake & Avicii at Future Music Festival (2015)
It was Drake’s long-awaited debut Downunder and also Avicii’s second last time in the country before he sadly passed away in 2019. At the time Avicii’s set was controversial as he played parts of his unreleased album True with a heavy inspiration on country music. However, Avicii proved critics wrong when the album was released, boasting some of his more successful hits such as Wake Me Up and Hey Brother. 2015 was the final Future Music Festival.
Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams Tour (2017)
It hasn’t been officially announced but this may well and truly be the final time fans see Coldplay perform in the flesh ever again. Last year Chris Martin announced that the band would stop touring due to environmental concerns as the last tour took an enormous amount of resources to transport and perform. It’s easy to see how, as the production was one of a kind with fireworks, custom confetti shapes, beachballs, huge staging, as well as everyone receiving their own wristband which lighted up in sync with each other.
Ed Sheeran ÷ (2018)
Ed performed 18 shows through-out Oceania and it was the highest-grossing tour of all time (so far). The stadiums were so jammed packed that it even caused people to faint from the heat at his Melbourne concert. Sheeran was also very vocal during the tour in calling out Viagogo for their dodgy selling tactics, however, unfortunately, some people were still scammed for some shows.
Elton John Farewell Tour (2019)
Not many artists have the power, let alone stamina, to perform a staggering 40 shows across Australia & New Zealand, but that wasn’t a problem for 72-year-old Elton John. The shows also made headlines after hundreds of punters were left stranded from buying fake tickets on Viagogo.
Tyler the Creator at BTV (2019)
After his tour was cancelled in 2015 as a result of protest from feminist group Collective Shout, Tyler was announced to bring in the new decade four years later. As expected there was no grief amongst fans who snatched up all of the festival’s tickets only minutes after being released. In order to stop scalpers from buying tickets and selling them at inflated prices, BTV teamed up with Tixel for the official resale.
Every decade has its moments and 2020 will be no exception. In the late 2010s, the live music industry in Australia has seen a change in the sentiment around ticket scalpers and scammers with many fans choosing by choice to sell tickets at face value. The trend is only starting to increase as we bring in the twenty twenties.
