Concert promoter Michael Newton has done his fair share of soul-searching since COVID-19 first reared its ugly head.
The music industry was hit hard by ongoing restrictions and A Day On The Green was no exception.
Newton started the concert series 21 years ago with his wife Anthea, working out of their garage in Elwood, Victoria, and calling it a "Big Day Out for grown-ups". The concept was simple - good food, fine wine and great music in picturesque locations.
Newton's Roundhouse Entertainment (he and Anthea are co-directors) went on to partner with Michael Gudinski's Mushroom Group, and it continues to this day with Michael's son, Matt Gudinski.
"It was an honour to walk side by side with MG on the journey, and our vision remains the same," Newton says. "We're still having fun."
He sighs as he describes the past two years as "tumultuous" but, true to form, is quick to focus on the positives. The 500th A Day On The Green show is at Mt Duneed Estate, Geelong, on November 19, and will star the inimitable Crowded House.
"Five hundred shows. It's a lot, isn't it? And 21 years is a long time to be doing what I do. I still love doing it. I get excited about doing a deal, seeing it go on sale, and then seeing it live.
"When we started there were hardly any outdoor, especially regional, shows. Michael Gudinski said at one stage 'This is going to change how everyone tours', and he was right."
The first A Day On The Green was at Mount Eliza's Morning Star Estate on January 26, 2001, where 1800 people enjoyed an all-Australian bill: James Morrison, Renée Geyer, Stephen Cummings, Rebecca Barnard and Shane O'Mara.
"Everyone seemed to get the concept - that it was a day out, eating, drinking, hanging out with friends and enjoying the music," Newton recalls. "It was an indicator that we were onto something."
In its 21 years A Day On The Green has injected millions of dollars into regional economies thanks to the pull of international superstars like Fleetwood Mac, Robbie Williams, Elton John, Blondie, Florence + the Machine, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Sting, Leonard Cohen, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rod Stewart. It has also helped pioneer homegrown line-ups.
To date, 4 million people have attended A Day On The Green and 1960 artists have performed. Jimmy Barnes has the most appearances: 44. Jackson Browne was the first international artist to appear at A Day On The Green (at Bimbadgen in the Hunter Valley on February 15, 2003).
Crowded House's A Day On The Green concert at Bimbadgen on November 12 will be the 72nd to have taken place in the Hunter Valley. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster.
"Out of 72 shows I've probably gone to 60, plus all the meetings ... I reckon I've visited the Hunter Valley about 100 times by now," Newton says.
For the time being a cautious Newton is booking international artists rather than domestic line-ups. But that could change.
"Some of our competitors run things a little more cheaply than we do, they have a very different model," Newton says.
"Quoting Gudinski again, he said 'Look, there's Pepsi and there's Coke, there's Qantas and there's Jetstar'. At the moment we are being quite careful about how many shows we do. We're trying to make every one a winner.
"I'm always the most optimistic person in the room, I always want to do more shows. There were some years we did more than 45 shows in a summer, which is out of control. Now it's probably 24 or 25 and the artists are international.
"But anything could happen. I like to keep my options open.
"The good thing is we're still in business, we've still got a good brand, and people like coming to the Hunter Valley - and in particular Bimbadgen. There's something about that venue. It's more intimate, it's got a nice view, it's fairly easy to access.
"You know, I tried so hard to get the Florence show to the Hunter but her team wanted to make sure they sold as many tickets as they could in Sydney, and I get that."
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