The controversial Anzac Day rock concert in Sydney will go ahead, but has been moved to a new location, the event's organiser has told Today.
Pandemonium 2024, with a line-up of stars including Placebo, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple and Blondie, on April 25 was slated to be held in the city's Domain public space.
News of the gig yesterday provoked a storm of protest by the RSL, leading New South Wales Premier Chris Minns to declare a rock concert just a few hundred metres from commemorative events was "inappropriate" and would not be going ahead.
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But Pandemonium promoter Andrew McManus told Today this morning the gig would be held on April 25, but at the new outer Sydney venue of Cathy Freeman Park, at Homebush.
He said the agreement for the gig to proceed at a new location was reached after talks with the NSW government overnight.
"We're just going to dot the I's and cross the T's over the next 48 hours, and then we'll make the official announcement," McManus said.
The event was never intended to be disrespectful, and his company Apex Entertainment was committed to donating a portion of ticket sales to two veterans' charities, Wounded Heroes Australia and Legacy, he said.
"The way we saw it was a commemoration in the morning and then celebration in the afternoon into the evening ... these men and women fought for our freedom and to give us the ability to be able to have entertaining and have a good time," he said.
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"And it's just it's just not something that any way, shape or form did we want to put ourselves in the position of not being respectful."
American rock star and Blondie singer Debbie Harry told Today she was unaware of the outcry about the concert.
"It's not my problem, really. It's my problem to do the show. But it's not, not really my problem to figure out where to put the show on," she said.
The Pandemonium festival is also playing in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Bribie Island.
