blakbrd:
Paul is a billionaire and I don't think he would be too worried about the cost of touring Australia. It is comments about 2002, cancelled for reasons we can only speculate about, that will stop him coming here.!!
Money is the ONLY reason he hasn't played here. It's always about the money, billionaire or not. Paul's not one to take a loss on a tour and he certainly doesn't pay for a tour out of his own pocket. No act does. Whilst he may have cancelled the 2002 show "out of respect for the bombings in Bali" he hasn't been back purely because the numbers don't add up for him. Why does he continue to tour the US? Because he sees it as a rich mine that he can plunder time and time again (not that there's anything wrong with that). If he hadn't cancelled or had come here afterwards it wouldn't be an issue. How many other concerts has he cancelled in his solo years? Not many that I can recall (Sheffield in 2003 comes to mind but it was quickly rescheduled for a month later). At the time, his press man Geoff Baker went to great pains to clarify the event was "postponed" and not cancelled. Eight years later we're still waiting for the "rescheduled" show and Baker has been given the arse! Given the unbelievable strength of the Australian dollar right now (it is on parity with the Greenback) production costs would be at their most attractive. That leaves ticket sales. The slow sales in Melbourne in 2002 and dwindling record sales here may well have spooked him into thinking he no longer has a viable market in Australia. Personally, I think that is rubbish. I think he could tour this country and fill 10-15,000 seat indoor arenas just as he does in the US. To quote the great man himself... "Come home brother, all is forgiven".