Western Springs Stadium

Western Springs Stadium is an entertainment venue in Auckland, New Zealand that consists of a natural amphitheatre. During the winter it is used for club rugby matches and over summer it is used for speedway races. It is also occasionally used for large music concerts and festivals.

Western Springs Stadium has a crowd capacity of 30,000 for sports [1] and upwards of 50,000 for concerts. It is located four kilometres west of the city centre in the suburb of Western Springs.

History

Western Springs Stadium has been used for speedway races since 1929.

Many notable concerts have been held at the stadium, including the only New Zealand concerts by Led Zeppelin (1972) and Duran Duran (2003).

Two concerts held at the stadium were the largest concerts ever in the Southern Hemisphere at the time (although since overtaken by Rock In Rio). On 26 November, 1983 the final date of David Bowie's Serious Moonlight tour was attended by either 74,480 fans (according to bootleg recordings [2]) or by 83,000 (according to the promoter years later [3]). On 14th March, 1987 over 80,000 fans saw the concert by ZZ Top.

At the top of the hill that forms the amphitheatre is a street of houses – the residents have a view into the stadium from their back gardens. This has often been referred to by the artists on stage, who have often encouraged the residents to donate money to charity in lieu of an entrance fee – notably, Bono from U2 (1989) and Robbie Williams (2003).

External link

• Springs Speedway