“I was at a sold-out Accor Stadium for Luke Combs in Sydney. Bey would sell it out within hours!! It would be another [Taylor Swift’s] Eras Tour, with people going crazy for tickets,” a person commented.
Others theorised that there may be a further announcement to come with more countries on the list, considering the tour dates stop in July and her previous tour was rolled out in two stages.
Naturally, New Zealand’s highest-capacity stadium Eden Park would be a good fit for the star, with the success of recent concerts like Combs and Coldplay proving the venue worked for big-ticket artists.
“We’ve proudly hosted sold-out performances by some of the world’s biggest artists including Coldplay, P!NK, Ed Sheeran, Billy Joel, Six60 and Guns N’ Roses. And Metallica will take the stage later this year,” Eden Park chief executive Nick Sautner told the Herald.
“We are in constant discussions with promoters as we look to continue attracting the highest calibre of international talent to Auckland and New Zealand,” he said.
He noted that the new resource consent decision to host up to 12 concerts annually and a recent West Stand modification project increasing total capacity placed the venue as “a world-class destination”.
“This positioning, enhanced by our focus on exceptional fan experiences and future improved accessibility via the City Rail Link, makes Eden Park an increasingly attractive option for international artists, particularly those looking to perform multiple shows at a single venue.”
Another topic of debate among fans online was whether Australia would take precedence over New Zealand if dates were announced.
Other large-scale acts like Billie Eilish and Swift have previously planned down-under tours that excluded Aotearoa.
Fans flocked to Australia in droves last February to catch Swift, with Air New Zealand even offering extra flights to accommodate fans.
Sautner previously told the Herald in early 2024 that the Swift snub and others may have ultimately come down to previous resource consent challenges and timings.
He explained that the limit itself was not exactly an issue, but rather they were finding that promoters were more often than not requiring multiple concert dates to accommodate demand.
“Artists are bypassing New Zealand and fans are missing out,” he said at the time.
It’s also not the first time Beyonce has left Australasia off her touring schedule, with her last Renaissance tour skipping the region entirely.
Beyonce was last seen on the Kiwi stage in 2013 when she brought her Mrs Carter Show to Vector (now Spark) Arena.
According to Rolling Stone NZ/AU, the Mrs Carter Show was the fastest-selling tour of the year for the venue at the time.
It also set a new attendance record for a solo artist, with Beyonce performing to 44,596 fans over four nights and breaking the previous record set by Roger Waters.
A Herald reviewer who attended the show commented on its high production value and the impressive performance from Beyonce, who covered songs by Whitney Houston and belted her way through hits like If I Were A Boy and Run The World.
“Every hip thrust and every hair flick were a statement of precision and power, and the visual presentation was endlessly impressive, whether there were fireworks raining down on the stage, or ballet dancers swirling,” the reviewer said.
Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.
