Guns N’ Roses’ 2022 Australian Tour to Receive Financial Government Support
It's not unusual for bands to have commercial sponsorship for their tour, but as Guns N' Roses plan to hit the road for dates in Australia late next year, they'll receive an assist from Australia's government.
According to NME, the band's tour is being presented by concert promoters TEG Dainty. The company is one of 63 entities within Australia that will benefit from the government's RISE (Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand) program, helping businesses get back on their feet and help stimulate the economy that's been damaged by pandemic shutdowns of the last year-plus. This funding is the sixth such stimulus guided toward businesses in need since the start of the pandemic in Australia.
Guns N' Roses had been scheduled to play Australia, taking part in an arena tour that has been pushed back to November 2022 due to the pandemic. The $600,000 awarded to TEG Dainty is expected to help the concert promoter reschedule the run that was initially set to take place last month.
CEO Paul Dainty stated that his company had "worked for months" with the state government to try to make the tour feasible for this year, but were unable to proceed.
“It has taken time to finalize a plan where we could be confident of completing a national tour of Australia next year,” he said. “This will be the biggest stadium rock tour of summer 2022 with hundreds of people on the road, a massive production and logistics involved.”
As NME points out, the Guns N' Roses run was not the only music run to benefit from the RISE program financial aid, with several other concert promoters receiving financial backing to put on music festivals in Australia and additional artists getting backing to tour Australia in the coming year.
While the financial assistance should help in stimulating the economy, it has not come without criticism. Shadow Arts Minister Tony Burke singled out the Guns N' Roses tour when questioning where the money was being directed.