‘Climate Risk Is Real’: Dion Brant Talks Challenges, Trends In Touring

Australia’s dynamic concerts space isn’t for the faint of heart.

Complex regulations, rising costs, tight timelines, increasing operational risks, the fluctuating Australian dollar, even the price of re-laying turf are just some of the factors that keep promoters awake at night.

Add to that the uncertainty brought about by climate change, as floods, bushfire, and extreme weather constantly loom over outdoor shows, it’s no surprise a slew of festivals are sitting it out, for the short term at least.

Dion Brant, the Frontier Touring chief executive officer who was this week appointed President and CEO of AEG Presents Asia Pacific, knows all about it. 

“Climate risk is real. As costs increase and margins tighten the prospect of less certainty for outdoor shows adds to an already under pressure eco-system,” Brant explained for a recent interview, ahead of his appearance in Billboard Magazine’s 2025 Power Players list.

“We need to be clever and work out how promoters, affected venues, festivals and artists can work together with the insurance industry to protect everyone in the business – because extreme weather events will continue to happen.”

Dion Brant

Opportunities abound, however, and a new generation of touring artists have elevated to another level in a matter of months.

Gracie Abrams’ January 2024 run for Frontier Touring sold out venues at 3,000-5,000 capacity, for a total of about 22,000 tickets. She returned, "worked hard," Brant notes, and embarked on a 12-date The Secret of Us arena tour in April and May that sold about 150,000 tickets.

Most tickets were sold before she had a hit single chart in Australia or any significant airplay.

Likewise, when Benson Boone’s 2024 single "Beautiful Things" caught fire on the ARIA Charts, Frontier Touring reshaped his debut January 2025 run of shows from sold-out theatres and clubs into sold-out mid-sized venues. Auckland, where the venue was upgraded to Spark Arena, was his largest show to date in the region.

Benson Boone

Also, Teddy Swims progressed from theatres to small areas and halls, to a multi-date arena tour in the space of about three years, another example, Brant explains, where the concerts promoter “worked hand in hand with artists and their teams to make the right choices for not just their upcoming tour but for their future tours and their continued growth in this market.”

Brant’s promotion was announced Wednesday morning. At the same time, some touring business; Frontier Touring shared plans for Royel Otis’ forthcoming national run, one that would see the Sydney indie-rock act play their biggest venues to date their homeland.

Royel Otis’ meet me in the car tour will visit Melbourne's Margaret Court Arena, Brisbane’s The Fortitude Music Hall, Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion and Perth’s Ice Cream Factory, in support of their second album Hickey, due out August 22nd via OURNESS/Universal.

“New artists are finding audiences in different ways than ever before, and fans are discovering music that they would not have been traditionally exposed to,” Brant explains. It’s a “dynamic” business and, despite the myriad challenges, “an exciting time”.

Royel Otis (Photo credit: Alex Wall)